


Tape Song

by BirdOfHermes



Series: The Thirst Trials [27]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Banter, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Black Character(s), Blackmail, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Comfort/Angst, Dom Loki (Marvel), Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Sex, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Femdom, Fingerfucking, Flirting, Heart-to-Heart, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kissing, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Has Issues, Mutual Masturbation, Nightmares, Oral Sex, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Outer Space, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Past Violence, Pillow Talk, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Battle of New York (Marvel), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Praise Kink, Prisoner Loki (Marvel), Protective Loki (Marvel), Psychological Trauma, Rough Sex, Sex Magic, Size Kink, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Spanking, Teasing, Time Shenanigans, Time Skips, Time Travel, Timeline Shenanigans, Touch-Starved, Tsunderes, Undercover, Undercover Missions, Undercover as a Couple, Verbal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:34:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23990887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirdOfHermes/pseuds/BirdOfHermes
Summary: After escaping with the Tesseract, Loki commits a few crimes and lands himself in jail, arrested by the Time Variance Authority. He is sentenced to 500 years imprisonment, but rather than serving time in the Kiln, he is instead instructed that he can reduce years off his sentence by completing assignments for the TVA. Loki and his partner and parole officer, Sophia, don't exactly see eye to eye, but perhaps they will...in time.
Relationships: Loki/OFC, Loki/Original Female Character
Series: The Thirst Trials [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1103739
Comments: 45
Kudos: 155





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sigh. Here I am again being too goddamn ADHD and overwhelmed with ideas. 
> 
> Right, so, this is an impatient attempt by yours truly to write about the Loki series. I'm just playing with ideas from the tiny bit of footage we've been given and with the casting of Gugu Mbatha-Raw recently before covid 19 shutdown all filming. This is way too ambitious a project, but I have too much free time and couldn't resist. Don't expect too much, though. I'm definitely not writing 500 years' worth of cases. More than likely, we'll be doing the greatest hits of Loki and Sophia's shenanigans solving cases for the TVA. 
> 
> Oh, and don't forget to blame saiansha for this. She's basically my drug dealer at this point, except with fics, encouraging this filthy habit until I eventually die. Looooooooove yooooooooooooou.

_Time ain’t gonna cure you, honey_

_Time don’t give a shit_

_Time ain’t gonna cure you, honey_

_Time’s just gonna hit on you_

_I said, six kinds of glue won’t hold you_

_Won’t hold you, oh my, oh!_

_Oh my!_

_You’ve got to, you’ve got to, you’ve got to_

_You’ve got to go straight ahead!_

_-“Tape Song” by The Kills_

“Loki of Asgard, for the crimes you have committed tampering with the timeline of this reality and this universe, you are hereby sentenced to five hundred years imprisonment.”

Those were the last words Loki wanted to hear.

He stood on a floating platform at the center of an enormous court chamber, bound with special restraints that grounded out his magical abilities. There were three shadowy figures before him, their voices masked to hide their identities. He sneered as he considered how ridiculous it was that they saw fit to condemn him, but didn’t have the nerve to disclose who they were to hold such authority. Then again, that was part of their name, wasn’t it? The Time Variance Authority. Emphasis on authority.

“This is absurd and disproportionate,” Loki spat. “My dip in the timeline hasn’t caused nearly enough damage to warrant such a heavy sentencing.”

“You have interrupted several events in the time stream,” the one on the far left said coldly. “Which had to then be corrected by one of our agents. That takes time and resources and it always has a ripple effect somewhere else in our reality. It may seem small to you, but it is not to the fabric of time itself. Every event has consequences. You should not have tampered with the Tesseract considering how little you know about it.”

“I know enough, simpleton,” Loki continued, narrowing his eyes. “Enough that I will bring hell down upon your heads once I have been freed.”

“If you continue to antagonize this court, your sentence will be extended, Loki,” the figure in the center replied. “We are well aware of the lifespan of Asgardians. Five hundred years is a generosity. We are within our rights to sentence you to the remaining four thousand years of your life.”

Loki gritted his teeth. “You will not intimidate me into compliance.”

“There is no need for intimidation. Only truth. The truth of the matter is normally you would be sent to the Kiln, but in light of your heritage, this court has instead decided that you will be put to work as an agent instead of being imprisoned. Your brother Thor has done several great deeds that have not only protected the universe itself, but the timeline as well, and so the court has decided that you will be given a second chance.”

“Oh, how generous,” Loki said, rolling his eyes. “Do tell.”

“You will be assigned tasks as a limited Time Variance Authority agent. Upon completing each task, it will knock years off of your sentence. You will be assigned a handler and a parole officer who will monitor your completion of the tasks and will be responsible for you. If you cooperate fully, then you can eradicate all five hundred years of your sentence within a significantly smaller amount of time. However, if you disobey orders, continue attempting to tamper with time, do harm to others, or try to escape, then you will be sent to the Kiln for the remaining four thousand years of your life. Do you understand, Loki?”

“Oh, I understand,” Loki purred, tilting his head and smirking. “As long as you understand the consequences of your actions thoroughly.”

“We consider all consequences. That is our task. This is yours. You are dismissed.”

The platform sprang to life with light and a shield formed a bubble around him as it floated back down towards the lower floor where he’d been held waiting for his sentencing. Once he was gone from sight, he slammed a fist against the forcefield and cursed in Old Norse. Bastards. If only he’d been quicker. If only he’d escaped with the Tesseract. Now he was little more than a slave and there was nothing he could do but barter for his life back.

The platform returned him to the prep chamber, where a couple of lumbering androids with no faces escorted him through to the exit counter. There was a barrier with a Kree woman inside, her stare penetrative and serious. The androids shoved both of his bound arms through the blue portion of the golden barrier.

Loki flicked her an insincere smile. “And who are you bloody supposed to be?”

She didn’t even bat an eyelash. “Loki of Asgard, the restraints on your wrists have the ability to allow you to use your magic, but they will immediately deactivate your magic if you try to take harmful action against your parole officer or any living organism that is not deemed a threat. It will also deliver a very painful bolt of electricity throughout your body in order to dissuade you from taking such actions again. Inside the restraints is a database that holds record of your remaining years of service to the TVA. Your parole officer is the sole being in the universe who can reduce your years in the system. It is physically impossible to tamper with your restraints. If you do, once again, it will dissuade you with extreme prejudice. If you have reduced your sentencing to zero years, you will return here and the restraints will be removed. Do you understand everything as I have explained it to you?”

Loki grinned and batted his lashes. “Of course, darling.”

She flipped his wrists over and tapped in a code. The nearly invisible restraint that held his wrists together vanished. “Please proceed to your right. Your parole officer is waiting.”

“Oh, joy. What of my effects that were confiscated upon my arrest?”

A small smirk touched her blue lips. “I am afraid the Tesseract will not be returned to you, your majesty.”

He scowled. “Ha, ha, bloody ha. I meant the other effects.”

“Your ill-gotten gains have been returned to their owners. Please proceed to the exit.”

Loki bared his teeth in a sneer. “When this is over, I’m going to burn this place to the ground.”

The Kree woman smiled then. “Have a nice five hundred years, your highness.”

He seethed as the androids dragged him away from the counter. They led him through a narrow hallway and out through a scanner that concluded he hadn’t smuggled anything beneath his armor. The androids stopped there and released his arms, turning and retreating back the way they’d come. Loki rolled his shoulders, rubbing the infernal contraptions on his wrists and frowning down at them. To the TVA’s credit, they were lightweight and he couldn’t really feel them on his skin, which at least meant he wouldn’t have to worry about callouses or discomfort. They were a strange metallic color with a thin black screen-like section activated by touch. He’d tried for a long time to get them to show him anything, but the screen did nothing if he touched them. He would have an old friend look at them to determine if the TVA was telling the truth about them being impossible to remove.

After all, nothing was impossible.

Satisfied for the moment, Loki walked down the steps of the alien courthouse in search of the parole officer. He’d conjured an image in his mind of a huge, grizzled old man with some kind of huge blaster across his back. After all, he was a demigod. They’d send someone formidable for sure to even hope to get him to comply.

He stood in the lobby scowling around as people briskly walked by, trying to locate someone of that stature around him until he heard someone clear their throat. Loki adopted his coldest smirk and turned around.

To find a goddess standing there.

She was quite a bit shorter than him, around 5’4’’, her luminous skin a lighter shade of brown, her dark hair fluffy with curls that reached her shoulders, her body encased in dark blue and grey armor with the TVA insignia on a small plate above her heart. She had a laser pistol on the right side of her hip and a large knife sheathed on the left side, her utility belt heavy with other items like laser handcuffs and an electric baton. He found himself almost falling into her large, cat-shaped brown eyes at first, tracking down over her lovely features to full, luscious lips. Freckles dusted her nose and forehead. She was somehow the exact middle between adorable and gorgeous, he concluded.

“Pardon me, darling, but I have no time for a dalliance,” he said silkily. “I am a criminal and I am waiting for someone.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you’re waiting for me, shithead. I’m Sophia, your parole officer.”

Loki stared in disbelief. “I beg your pardon?”

“You heard me, I’m standing three inches from you,” Sophia grumbled. “Now come on. I’ve got to get your living quarters arranged before the damned office closes. Hop to it, your highness.”

She strode forward and shoved the door open, not waiting for him any longer. Loki blinked owlishly at her back and then plodded forward after her, still gob smacked. She continued to lead him outside towards the landing bay on the far side of the courthouse. She hit something on her forearm display and the hull to a large black ship hissed open and spit out a landing ramp for them to climb up. She marched aboard and Loki followed, still baffled by what he was seeing. She plopped into the pilot’s seat and hit a few buttons, closing the ship behind them.

“Sit. Strap in.”

Loki slid into the seat and continued staring at her. “I have questions.”

She snorted as she hit a few buttons to signal the flight monitors that they were about to take off. “I bet you do.”

“First off, you appear to be Midgardian,” Loki said, peering at her more closely. “Which is highly unusual.”

“Whoo hoo, you won first prize at the Captain Obvious contest,” Sophia groused as she initiated lift off.

“How are you here?” he demanded. “How are you an agent of the Time Variance Authority if you are from Midgard? They are not technologically advanced enough yet to make contact with any beings who operate outside of the current timeline.”

Sophia made a wrong buzzer noise. “Sorry, Loki. You don’t have access to that backstory.”

Loki glared. “I would bite my tongue if I were you.”

She didn’t bother looking at him as she commenced lift off. “Or what? You know as well as I do that you’re nothing without your precious magic, Loki. You’re not gonna do a goddamn thing to me.”

He glared harder. “As if I need my magic to subdue a measly Midgardian girl.”

Sophia laughed. It was a bold, brazen sound. “Measly. You’re exactly like they said you’d be.”

Loki crossed his arms. “Am I?”

“Yes. A spoiled brat not used to being told no.” She cut her eyes over at him. “Except maybe by your brother and Odin.”

“You will not speak of them in my presence, woman,” he snarled.

“I don’t know why you’re so sore,” she snorted. “Thor’s the only reason you’re not in the slammer right now. I’d be more grateful if I were you.”

“You know absolutely nothing. My brother is an arrogant fool and I will not lick his boots even if you’re happy to do so in my stead.”

Sophia rolled her eyes again. “God, you’ve got a mouth on you. I wish they’d kept that gag on.”

“I do not see how you can even hope to control me, girl.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you see it or not. I’m still holding your collar, Loki. Better get used to it unless you care to spend five hundred years in my company.”

Loki narrowed his eyes. “Your species does not live that long.”

Sophia just gave him a mysterious smile before activating lightspeed. “Is that right?”

Loki sat back in his chair and observed her rather than the brilliant passageway of stars open before him. The cascading colors lit up the features of her face, highlighting the intelligence and concentration in her eyes. Her cool expression gave nothing away. He reconsidered his initial opinion of her.

They dropped out of lightspeed just outside the gravitational field of a noxious-colored planet. Loki’s lip curled as he recognized it. “Contraxia. Fantastic.”

“What better place to hide a wannabe warlord?” Sophia said cheerfully as she adjusted her course. “Don’t worry, your highness. I’m sure we can find something as nice for you as your quarters in the palace.”

He rolled his eyes. “If you intend to hide me amongst criminals, exactly how is it that you will prevent them from recognizing me and running to tell the Avengers or Thanos?”

“Your restraints are outfitted with holographic technology. It also has an Allspeak setting. It automatically projects a disguise around you when we’re in public, though you appear normal to me and yourself to the naked eye. It will augment your voice as well, so no one will be the wiser.”

“Mm. The Kree at the counter told me you are the only one who can access them.”

“That’s right.”

“So what happens if someone kills you, as I am sure they could do quite easily?”

“Then it sucks to be you. You’ll be sent to the Kiln for the remainder of your sentence.”

Loki did a double take. “What?”

“Didn’t mention that, huh?” Sophia chuckled. “Sorry, Loki. This is a one-time only deal. They thought they would teach you responsibility and keep you from scheming. If I die, you go to prison for good, no chance of parole.”

“That is ridiculous,” Loki fumed. “You are a fragile and inferior creature. Am I meant to fret over your every move?”

“No, but this will keep you from stabbing me in the back and trying to use my credentials to get rid of your sentence.”

“Only a coward would stab his opponent in the back.” Loki leaned in. “If I kill you, darling, I promise it will be up close and personal and you will know it was me.”

Sophia smiled. “You’re cute when you’re angry.”

He seethed. “I will not responsible for your life. If you are killed, then I merely need escape capture.”

“Wrong again. My vital signs are tied to your restraints. The second I’m dead, the restraints will immobilize you and send a signal back to the TVA to come scoop your deadweight up and transport you directly to the Kiln.” She hit the auto pilot and the ship continued towards its projected path to enter the planet’s atmosphere. She rested her hands on the arm of Loki’s seat and leaned in, her gaze unafraid, her voice lowering. “The TVA has thought of everything, Loki. I know you don’t believe that, but they have. There is no escape. There is no scheme that will get you out of this. You are a collared criminal and honestly, if it were my choice, I’d throw your pale ass right into the Kiln and watch them tear your handsome body apart piece by piece. But lucky you. You’ve been given a second chance that most criminals never get thanks to your brother. Want my advice? Learn from this experience. You lost a war. You lost everything. Now you have nothing but what’s in front of you and you can get your life back if you remove your head from your ass for long enough to see the future.”

Loki studied her. He gave her a slow smirk. “You think I’m handsome?”

Sophia groaned and straightened up, marching away towards her equipment bay. “This is gonna be a long goddamn journey.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki learns the rules and terms of his relationship with both the TVA and Sophia.

It had taken quite an effort for Loki to sleep in his strange surroundings. The previous night, they’d arrived on the surface of Contraxia and she’d taken him to a scummier part of the capital city, Thax, and into a neighborhood of apartments not far from the market. She’d spoken with a landlord to confirm his living arrangements and then dumped him in a furnished apartment on the second floor. She informed him that she’d be staying in the apartment next door and not to get any funny ideas about it before promptly exiting.

Loki had inspected his apartment with great distaste. He’d lived in the lap of luxury for so long, but then again, he’d also been in the bowels of Thanos’ ship, imprisoned and gagged and bound, waiting to die, so he’d seen far worse. It wasn’t difficult to rearrange the items inside the apartment more to his liking with his magic, which took him most of an hour, and after it was at least less of an eyesore, he’d showered and plopped himself into the bed, wrapping himself in furs and drifting into a shallow slumber plagued with nightmares.

The only warning he received of Sophia’s arrival into his bedroom had been the crunch of fruit.

Loki stirred in his nest of covers, mostly asleep, until his senses quickly realized he was no longer alone. Before he knew it, he’d summoned a dagger and thrown it at his opponent as he rolled out of bed in an agile movement, slamming his broad back to the wall as he regained his balance.

Sophia caught the dagger in mid-air with her free hand and flipped it around on her palm, using it to slice another piece of the juicy fruit in the other one. “Morning, inmate.”

“Bloody hell,” Loki swore, panting from the adrenaline. “Announce yourself, woman.”

“You startle easily,” she said. “For a big, scary demigod.”

“You have not even begun to see scary, Midgardian,” he sneered. “What are you doing in my private quarters? Do you have no concept of the word private?”

“You’re rusty,” Sophia said, frowning slightly at the dagger. “You should have heard me enter the apartment, but you didn’t. That’s concerning.”

Loki shoved his dark hair out of his eyes. “So that was a test, then?”

“And you failed it.”

Loki glowered. “Did I not almost kill you just now?”

“No,” she said. “You didn’t. If you had, your restraints would have zapped you.”

Loki glanced down at his wrist bindings in confusion. “I threw it right at your head, woman. What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

Sophia shook her head. “The trajectory was wrong. It would have hit the wall.”

He clenched his jaw. “In that case, you goaded me into harm, then?”

Sophia set the dagger aside on the dresser. “Look, if we’re going out into the field together, I need you in top form. Yes, that was a low blow. It would’ve zapped you for throwing a dagger in my face, but you didn’t. Either you’re going soft or you’re too distraught to focus your aim on an opponent. Either option will get you killed out here doing what we do.”

“What do you care if I die?” Loki demanded. “You are holding me captive, are you not? What concern have you for my well-being?”

“I told you. We’re field agents. You have an incentive to keep me alive so I can reduce your sentence. As much as I don’t enjoy your charming personality, you can be useful to me.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

She rolled her eyes as a smug look entered his features. “I’m not going to stroke your ego, Loki.”

He eyed her and then strode towards her with an exaggerated swaggering gait. He’d slept in just his undergarments, which were dark silk boxers, and nothing else. He knew the light from the hallway would reflect pleasantly off of his chest and abs and arms, turning his pale skin luminous and appealing. He stopped much too close to her and took the fruit out of her hand, bringing it up to his lips as he stared down at her.

“You appear in my bedroom at this hour and yet I am expected not to think there are other things you want to stroke, darling?” he murmured before taking a bite. It was rather sour, but in a way that he happened to like. The fruit was a mixture of green and gold, not unlike Midgard’s mangoes, but textured more like an apple. Maybe after they were done arguing, he could get her to tell him what it was called.

Sophia regarded him coolly. “You should be so lucky, your highness.”

Loki smiled. “You conceal it well, I admit, but I caught the glance you gave me when I left the bed. It was well below the waist. I’m flattered.”

She smiled right back. “You’re a pretty package wrapped around a rotted core.”

He laughed softly. “Come a little closer, agent. I would be happy to prove otherwise.”

Sophia huffed. “Right.”

She reached down and beside the entrance to his room and then shoved a clunky metal briefcase into his arms. “Try that on. I need to be sure we don’t have to make adjustments before our first assignment.”

“What is it?”

“Your TVA armor.”

He frowned. “I assure you my Asgardian leathers are more than formidable.”

“It’s not about that. The TVA armor is equipped with what you’ll need for travel through space and time. I’ll go over the features after you’re dressed.”

“How did you get my measurements?” he asked, his blue-green eyes gleaming.

She shook her head. “Your arrest records, genius. God, you’re such an ego maniac.”

Sophia stalked away into the kitchen while Loki chuckled to himself and shut the door. If nothing else, annoying her would pass the time more easily. The way her eyes glinted when she was angry intrigued him. He’d thought her to be prey at first, but the way she’d caught his dagger said otherwise.

The TVA armor matched the one he’d seen her wearing when they met: a combination of dark grey and blue with the TVA logo on the chest in orange. It was in two pieces, the upper and lower body, with gloves and boots in his size. The gloves slid easily over his restraints and the digital display built into the forearm screen did allow him access. He filed the thought away for later.

He passed by the bathroom mirror and tried not to look over, but couldn’t help it. He looked nothing like himself. Rage filled his chest. He should be out there, free, trying his best to escape Thanos’ pursuit, and yet here he was, a prisoner with the illusion of freedom. His wings had been clipped. He would have to wait to regrow his feathers. Time. That was what they had stolen from him.

And he was damned sure he would get it back.

Sophia stood at the counter in his kitchen when he left the bedroom. A thermos sat to her right and he swiped it, taking a quick sniff and finding it to be Midgardian coffee. It was too sweet for his liking, but he enjoyed the taste. She scowled at his lack of manners, but didn’t seem surprised given his behavior with the fruit. “Does it fit?”

“It will do,” he said.

“Good. You’re said to be a quick study, so you should understand most of the functionality. You have access to case files and methods of communication as well as the ability to call to my ship, the Bat. You can communicate with me and the TVA directly when we’re in our current timeline. When we go on missions through time, we’re on our own. We can’t send a signal back through to HQ, which means we have to get it right or we’re screwed.”

“Delightful.”

“I assume you understand how time works and that you cannot prevent future events from occurring. What we usually encounter are criminals abusing time, same as you did. There are unfortunately lots of ways to tamper with the present and while it cannot affect the same future, its ripple effect causes problems in the long run.”

“I see. And what is your preferred method: capture or execution?”

“Capture is preferred. Execute only if there is no other choice.”

“And I am to assume that these—” Loki gestured to his restraints. “—have the intuition to allow me to defend myself?”

“Yes. Your restraints have their own A.I. It monitors your vitals as well as everything that you see and hear and it can react faster than you can, so if you need to defend yourself or kill, it will allow it as long as your life, my life, or the life of someone you are protecting is in immediate danger.”

Loki narrowed his eyes. “Am I to assume it records everything as well?”

Sophia snorted. “You’re a criminal, Loki. Of course it does. If it makes you feel any better, it does go offline once you’re in resting hours, so nothing will be recorded should you…”

She paused, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “…want some alone time.”

“How very generous. This is slavery, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not exactly thrilled about that feature. None of the agents are. It’s dehumanizing.”

He blinked at her then. It was an oddly sympathetic thought. “Where is the footage stored?”

“It goes into the database stored within the device’s memory. It doesn’t stream to the TVA, if that’s what you’re worried about. If you were to do anything troubling, it would then send it to my device, so once again, I discourage you from the scheming. If I determine that you’re unwilling to follow orders, they’ll send you to slam on my recommendation in a heartbeat.”

“So what? Am I meant to simply keep you happy, woman?”

She laughed. “Loki, you’ve never kept another person happy in your life. Don’t even try it.”

He flattened his hands on the island counter and stared steadily down at her. “Whatever file you claim to have reviewed about me is not everything. You do not know me, agent. No more than I know you. The stories, the legends, all of it is nothing compared to who and what I am. You will not underestimate me. That was the mistake that Odin made.”

For once, she didn’t mock him. She held his gaze steadily. He could very nearly see the cogs working in her head, turning over facts and considering his words. “I don’t underestimate you, Loki. I know what you are.”

“And what is that?” he murmured.

“Dangerous,” she said frankly. “You are a predator. That’s what you are. However, it is not my job to place judgment on your soul. You are also intelligent, strong, agile, and cunning. So you’re a useful predator. I am not disillusioned. I know that if you get an opportunity to screw me over, you will take it without hesitation and you’ll feast on my corpse with a smile on that pretty face of yours.”

She leaned in across from him, closing the inches between them. “I am not going to give you that opportunity. If you want respect, earn it. I’m not handing it to you on a silver platter just because you’re a demigod. I’ve seen things you can’t even imagine, Loki. Monsters. Real, true monsters. You think Thanos is the worst of the worst?”

A bitter chuckle left her throat. “He’s wearing kid gloves compared to what I’ve seen.”

“Then we must reach an understanding. Stop the condescension. Treat each other as equals.”

“You don’t see me as your equal, Loki.”

He smirked. “No, I do not, but I can pretend to do so for the sake of our relationship.”

Sophia rolled her eyes. “Don’t do me any favors.”

His smirk widened. “Only if you ask them of me.”

“And you can stow all that Silvertongue nonsense. It’s not going to work on me.”

“I have heard that many, many times before and yet here I stand, unconvinced.”

“Fine, have it your way, highness.” She hit a few things on her forearm display. Loki heard his own beep in response. “There’s your food allowance. Go hit the market and feed yourself. I’ll be back within the hour so we can start your training.”

She opened the door and then paused, giving him a severe look over her shoulder. “Behave, Loki.”

He took a long sip of the pilfered coffee and then gave her a serpentine grin. “Of course, agent.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophia gets Loki up to speed on how to complete his tasks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hang in there. This is a slow burn, but don't lose your patience just yet. Things are heating up.

After the morning meal, they took a hoverbike outside of the city limits to a small, calcified forest. It was bitterly cold out, which would have bothered a normal person, but not Loki. Sophia had a long navy trenchcoat over her armor and a pair of sunglasses as they wove through the trees to a clearing away from prying eyes.

“First things first,” Sophia said as they dismounted. “You can’t just jump anywhere any time whenever you feel like it. Your restraints are tied to me. It’ll only let you get within a certain distance before it renders you unconscious because it believes you’re making a break for it. The radius is adjustable, but in general if you get more than about two to three kilometers away from me, you’re going to go down like a sack of potatoes. It works the same way for time travel. We have to go as a pair, but we can separate within that distance once we’ve reached our destination. If you prove trustworthy after a point, then the radius will be relaxed, but for now, we’re joined at the hip.”

Loki purposely lowered his gaze towards her body. “I have seen worse hips.”

“Smartass,” Sophia grumbled. “Time jumps are also limited. Our suits are powered by a liquid that flows through them constantly and has a core. The easiest way to think of it is as if you have a battery that allows a certain number of jumps before needing to be recharged. Typically, the suits can take two roundtrip jumps within a 24-hour period before needing to be recharged. The cores are very rare. That is why there are so few agents. It is unfortunately very easy for an agent to panic and overuse the suit, which means if they are in a time where there is no access to the core, they cannot return to the current timeline and stay trapped wherever they were when the suit ran out of gas. There is no way to contact the TVA once your suit is out of core. The HQ exists within a suspended pocket of time that our suits are directly linked to for the sake of secrecy and protection. For now, I’ll initiate the jumps and your suit will automatically follow, but if you prove to be cooperative, then that may change.”

She lifted her forearm and swiped across the screen to activate it, hitting a few things to show him the holographic interface. “When we initiate jumps, the helmets automatically deploy and we travel through the timestream on a guided route. You will not need to do anything after that point.”

Loki nodded. “What kind of cases do we handle?”

“Some require us to be bounty hunters, like the way that you were caught. We’re sent in to capture someone who has violated the Laws of Time and are to bring them back to HQ for sentencing. Other times we receive tips that someone is fiddling with history to benefit themselves and we’re mere to prevent something from happening and reprimanding the culprit. The latter cases can widely vary. I’ll review some examples with you after this exercise. Every once in a blue moon, we investigate a murder that is linked to time travel as well, but there is another division that usually handles it. Sometimes they hire us to pursue the culprit if they’re short on personnel.”

“How do we transport prisoners back to HQ?” Loki asked.

Sophia tapped the handcuffs on her belt. Loki had a matching pair. “This will project a temporary time protection barrier around them. Be careful. Our suits can sustain time travel for extended periods, but your prisoners can only withstand several minutes, so don’t try to go ping-ponging through the timestream during an escape or you’ll kill them accidentally.”

She cocked her head slightly. “This shouldn’t be a problem for you, but I’ll say it anyway: once we catch a perpetrator, a lot of them will try to give you a sob story to gain sympathy in the hopes that you’ll let them go. Don’t fall for it. They’ll stab you in the back the instant they get the chance.”

“I very much doubt that will be an issue for me.”

“As do I, but it needs to be said. They may come at you sideways, so you need to be prepared. I guess it’s a good thing you’re so experienced with treachery; you’ll see it coming from a mile away, I suspect.”

Loki smirked. “I’m flattered, darling.”

“Uh-huh. Alright, we’re going to make a jump so you can understand how it looks and feels. We’ll take it very easy. I’m setting the coordinates for this exact time and area two days ago. Each time we jump, the A.I. in the suit gives us a projected window of what the area looked like before the jump. Always check it. If you don’t, you could very well jump into the middle of a gun fight or during a terrible storm or something. Are you ready?”

Loki set his feet and straightened his shoulders before nodding. Sophia pressed a key and both of the helmets on their suits deployed. It was a bright orange glass with a heads-up display. He felt cool air against his face and heard Sophia’s voice over the radio. “And we’re going in three…two…one!”

She hit the launch button.

There was a flash of brightness—a bluish-white hue—and then Loki’s entire form was slammed with invisible forces as they disappeared from their current time. The device he had stolen for his own time-related crimes had been an item that Taneleer Tivan had kept in his rare collection that he’d traded for another highly sought-after artifact. The TVA clearly had something more advanced, for he only saw an instant of the time stream of the universe before they reached their destination. It damn near happened in the span of a blink. He and Sophia appeared in the middle of a flock of strange bird-like creatures, but they were larger and heavier than the ones he was used to on Midgard and Asgard. They were grey and fluffy with thick necks that had plumes. The birds startled into flight and flocked into the wintry skies.

Sophia checked her device. “Good. Target met. It can be a bit disorienting at first, so try to gather your wits about you first.”

Loki collapsed his helmet, pitched to one side, and vomited on the frost.

“That’s normal,” Sophia mused.

“Urgh,” Loki grunted in reply. He unsnapped the water canister from his belt and swished out his mouth, waiting for the dizzy spell to pass before responding. “Fantastic. Is that going to happen every time?”

“No, it’s just the first one. Our devices aren’t from anywhere near either of our timelines. They’re so advanced that it usually takes a second for your body to process being in a different time.”

He spat out another mouthful just to be sure he’d cleaned out his mouth. “And how do you know all this?”

“Part of the training.”

Loki shook his head. “No, how do _you_ know all of this? You’re from Midgard. As I understand it, there are not very many Terrans who interact outside of the planet. And you look to be quite young at that.”

“I am under no obligation to tell you that, you know.”

“Fine. How about we barter for it?”

Sophia pursed her lips. “Oh?”

“Yes. Ask me something you want to know about me. That way it’s fair trade.”

“Bold of you to assume there is anything I want to know about you.”

“I am a thousand years old and I just lost a war,” he said. “You would be a fool to dismiss such knowledge.”

Sophia crossed her arms. “And I’m just supposed to assume that you’re curious and won’t use any information that I give you against me?”

Loki gave her a sharp grin, lifting his brow. “Darling, if we don’t have trust, we don’t have anything.”

They stared each other down until Sophia’s suit beeped and began blinking. She checked it. “We’ve caught a case. Better get moving. I’m going to take us back to our time and then we can gear up and review it. Ready?”

Loki nodded and steadied himself again. Sophia transported them back to the present. This time, Loki’s stomach held, but then again, he’d already lost his breakfast. What a waste.

He found himself blinking at the spot where the vomit had been and there was no imprint of it. Truly, time travel was strange. He found himself chuckling at the idea that his vomit was on its own alternate timeline independent from the current reality. How strange.

Sophia took him back to the apartment and he stubbornly made himself another serving of food as she pulled up a stool and opened the casefile. “Alright, what have we got here? Looks like a rogue time traveler in a casino on Calypsis-8 in 2009.”

Loki raised an eyebrow and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Is that common?”

“It’s one of the lesser crimes, but yes, it happens. Time traveling devices aren’t as rare as you think and neither are beings capable of manipulating time to send you back. Sometimes a crook gets lucky and this is one of the first tricks that they try. You go back in time, observe at a casino, and then go back in time so that you can predict all of the dealer’s cards or how the dice will fall. You can clean up that way, but the house knows better. I’m guessing the guy got drunk and started getting too giddy about constantly winning and it tipped off the house.”

“That seems like a petty thing for the TVA to be involved in, some low life cheating at a casino.”

“As I said before, sometimes it’s not about the incident itself. Something this guy does in this current situation has a negative effect on something else. Always remember that this is about the big picture, your highness. Things are more than they appear.”

“I see. Speaking of which, what’s his name and background?”

Sophia flipped through the file. “His name is Yenz. Former smuggler. Frequent con man. His arrest record shows mostly theft, but nothing above several thousand credits at a time, which keeps him off the radar of the very worrisome authorities.”

“Combat experience?”

“Yes. Guns, not knives, but he doesn’t look to be an expert marksman.”

“Known associates?”

Sophia gave him an impressed glance before continuing. “None in the area at the time of this event. He’s alone.”

“What is our plan of action?”

“Most people don’t know that the TVA exists and we aim to keep it that way. Unless we’re walking into a war zone, we go undercover, corner the perpetrator, subdue them, and transport them out. In this case, we’re being told that the suspect is to surrender his winnings and to return to his present. On Earth, we’d call this a misdemeanor, so the TVA doesn’t want him brought in unless he refuses to give back the money or if he attempts to kill either of us.”

Loki leaned against the counter and crossed his arms, observing the rogue time traveler. He was short, stout, and had purple skin with a yellow fin ridge along his scalp. “And in your experience, what are the chances he will simply cooperate?”

“Now you’re learning,” Sophia mused. “Given this guy’s history, there’s a 40% chance he’ll give up the money. Most thieves don’t want any heat. They’re opportunists.”

She closed the casefile and stood. “But that brings me to my next point. I’m still not convinced about your abilities. I need assurances that you’ve recovered enough from New York to be ready for a mission.”

Loki scowled. “And how do you propose I assure you?”

“We’ll make it easy.” Sophia took her knife out of its sheath. It was a gorgeous weapon, Loki noted. The blade wasn’t iron or steel, but rather a rare obsidian blade that didn’t reflect any light. An assassin’s knife. Curious for someone in the TVA to carry it. It was also heavy, roughly eight inches long, its handle thick, the grips made for a large man’s hand. It belonged to her, but it certainly hadn’t been made for her.

“Disarm me,” she said as she lazily sunk into a defensive position.

Loki stared at her. “I beg your pardon?”

“Disarm me. It should be easy for a big strong demigod, right?”

Loki eyed her. “Are you going to stab me if I try?”

Sophia batted her thick lashes at him. “Yes, but too not hard, I promise.”

A dry chuckle left him as he pushed off from the counter and stalked towards her. He sized her up along the way and analyzed the best point to strike, but in a non-lethal manner so that his restraints wouldn’t electrocute him.

Loki went for an elbow strike first, hoping to simply knock the knife loose. Sophia blocked the blow, so he grabbed for her wrist. She tossed the knife into her other hand and twisted her body behind him, escaping his grasp in an easy, fluid gesture. She kicked the back of his right knee and he stumbled forward, blinking rapidly in disbelief.

He turned and eyed her again. It was rare that any Midgardian could hit him hard enough to let him feel it. Captain America had been the first he’d encountered, in fact. The kick had stung a bit. He was certain her suit had amplified strength, then. He reevaluated this time and tried again.

Loki’s long leg lashed out, hoping to catch her ankle, but she dodged the attempt. It shifted her balance to his liking, so he reached for her waist and tried to slip his arm around her in a simple hip toss. She slammed her palm against his sternum and ducked as he came in close, his fingers closing around empty air as she spun daintily on the ball of her foot right out of reach, leaving him to thud against the island counter.

Loki growled under his breath as he straightened up. The armor slowed him down. He was too used to his lightweight leathers instead of the clunky metal protecting him from the particles allowing him to time travel. He understood now. He needed to adapt to the change, but also quit thinking so linear. His mind told him it would be simple to disarm a Midgardian woman so much smaller than him, but her experience granted her the advantage over his strength and speed.

He flicked a dagger in her general direction, which she deflected easily, and he used the second of extra time to create a blinding flash of magic. She flinched and brought her forearms up, expecting him to rush her, but then the white light dissipated and he was no longer there. The hairs on her nape stood up and she dropped to one knee, narrowly avoiding his long arms wrapping around her from behind. She slammed her elbow into his solar plexus and spun to her feet, knocking him in front of her again with her other hand.

“Better,” she admitted as she watched him straighten up yet again. “Still not there yet.”

“Yes,” Loki breathed. “I suppose I should think outside the box with you, hmm?”

She shrugged, flipping the handle of the blade between her fingers. “Couldn’t hurt.”

Loki folded his arms behind his back and just smiled at her. She narrowed her eyes. “What’s this?”

“What’s what, darling?”

“What are you doing?”

“Thinking outside the box.”

She frowned, about to demand clarification, when she felt a peculiar sensation somewhere underneath her suit, around her upper thighs. At first, it was just a tickle, so she shook it off, but then the sensation intensified to a caress that made goosebumps rush along her naked spine. Her mouth flew open to say something, but then the phantom caress landed right between her legs and stroked the area between them almost lovingly and her eyelids fluttered for a second as a wave of pleasure followed in its wake.

And a second was all Loki had needed.

While she was distracted, he lunged for her again. She tried to steady herself, but the magic surged into one particular spot and her knees weakened as she tried to backpedal. Loki slipped an arm around her back and grabbed the hilt of the knife, twisting it out of her grip and into his own in a swift, elegant movement. He swung their bodies and shoved her to the nearest wall, the blade at her throat, his knee between her thighs not far from where his magic had been toying with her to help pin her in place.

“You have been disarmed,” Loki purred with a crafty smile.

Sophia reeled in her breathing and squinted at him. “Are you going to subdue Yenz like this?”

“Only if I have to.”

Sophia snorted softly. “What was that exactly?”

“It’s called tactile magic.”

“Well, it damn sure wasn’t in your file.”

“I told you not to underestimate me.”

“At least you’re creative. That’s the only reason I haven’t cut you open for pulling that move on me. Needless to say, if you try to get fresh like that again, I’ll end you.”

“What a shame,” Loki drawled, his lips curling wider in a flirtatious smile. “You were very cute just now with your knees all wobbly and your cheeks all flushed.”

Sophia glared. The blush hadn’t quite subsided yet, so he found it to make her look rather endearing. “Hope you enjoyed it. You’ll never see it again.”

Loki slowly let her go and then offered her the knife on his palm, his stare heavy and intense. “Perhaps I will…in time.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Sophia head out on their first case.

In his travels with Thor and the Warriors Three, Loki was no stranger to the concept of gambling, but this mission was his first time in an actual casino.

The first thing to hit him was the noise; cheering, jeering, the slosh of alcohol, the noise of credits and other valuables hitting the tables, the dealers announcing the winners and losers, all of it quite overwhelming to take in at once. The room was large enough to fit a hundred patrons and brightly lit with tables dotted throughout and a second-floor balcony with private games for the richer customers. Security guards roamed the outskirts of the room and monitored the exits. The casino had a strict no weapons policy, so he and Sophia had checked their guns in at the counter before entering.

The TVA suit projected a holographic image of a fine blue paisley suit around him as well as his disguised identity: that of an attractive man with short, brown hair and wintry blue eyes. Sophia had instructed him to enter first and do some light recon and she’d meet him at the bar before they would go after Yenz. He counted six security guards and twelve security cameras as he glided along the casino floor.

The bulk of the noise came from a table in the corner where a throng of people had gathered. Yenz stood in the center, whooping and laughing, completely unaware of anything but his “good fortune.” Loki rolled his eyes. The guy certainly had it coming, being so arrogant to think the casino’s owners wouldn’t be suspicious of his impossible luck.

He picked a seat the corner of the bar and ordered wine, sipping it lightly as he waited. It was several minutes before he heard a honeyed voice at his left elbow. “You’re not supposed to drink on the job, you know.”

“Rules are made to be broken,” he said, turning, and then nearly dropped his wine goblet. Sophia appeared to have poured herself into a slinky, strapless navy gown. It had a shimmering effect when she moved and her normally bouncy curls were pinned in an elegant French knot. Her brown eyes were even more highlighted by the silvery makeup over her lids and the heavy liner, making it impossible not to fall into those mahogany depths without concentrating. He’d found her distracting at times before but now she was pretty much impossible to ignore.

Sophia lifted the goblet out of his hand and took a gulp. “Mm. Point taken.”

She guided her gaze over at the rambunctious table. “How drunk is he by now?”

“Quite,” Loki said. “Is that part of the plan?”

“Yes. It’ll be a lot easier to catch him if he runs if his equilibrium is off.”

“How shall we approach it?”

“I’ll work my magic and convince him he’s irresistible, get him off the casino floor and outside in the lobby. Give me a bit of breathing space and then follow. We can’t leave the building without him cashing out his winnings, so we’ll confront him there and make him give it all back. If he doesn’t, then I guess we have to throw down.”

“Throw down?” Loki echoed.

“Sorry. Midgardian slang. I’ll teach you more of it sometime.”

“A fine plan, but what if he touches you?”

She frowned at him. “Huh?”

“Won’t the armor tip him off?”

“I’m not wearing the armor.”

Loki blinked at her and then slid one hand across the small of her back to confirm it wasn’t a hologram. Smooth skin met his fingertips. Sophia gave a small yip of surprise and swatted his arm, blushing. “Hey!”

“Hmm, forgive me. Is that not a bit reckless?”

“It’s just some two-bit thief. If I can’t kick his ass while wearing a dress and heels, I don’t deserve to be a TVA agent. Besides, inmate, that’s what you’re here for as my backup. Now are we clear?”

“We are indeed.”

Sophia straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath before she slunk towards their target. Loki watched her go. Perhaps his sentencing wasn’t all bad.

He touched a finger to the link in his ear and tuned into the conversation once she’d reached Yenz and chuckled into his goblet as she piled on the compliments and used a shockingly cute, friendly tone with the thief. It only took a few more minutes for her to convince him she was interested in some extracurricular activities. She looped her arm through his own and walked out with him, giggling at his unfunny jokes. Loki gave them time to exit and then followed, stopping at the weapons check counter to be returned his pistol.

The cash out counter was to one side of the exit and there were a few people in line. Sophia allowed Yenz to continue running his mouth excitedly until they reached the counter and then Loki hovered nearby, readying himself to intervene.

“I’d like to cash out my winnings!” Yenz said, shoving forward the vouchers for the substantial number of credits he’d “won” over the course of the day. They were small square blocks of various denominations, no bigger than Dominoes. From where he stood, Loki could tell it was just under a million credits easily.

“Actually,” Sophia said with a saccharine smile. “It might be best if you let them have it all back.”

Yenz stared at her blankly and then started laughing. “Oh, you are just as funny as you are cute, aren’t you?”

“I am, but in this case, I’m dead serious.” Sophia reached into the small of her back and withdrew her badge, flashing it. “I’m an agent with the Time Variance Authority. Yesterday, at approximately 21:14 hours, you violated the Laws of Time to observe the casino dealers’ actions so that you could win every game and illegally obtain these winnings. You are to return every credit to the house and return to your timeline of origin or you will be arrested. Do you understand me?”

Yenz’s jaw dropped. He stared between her and the pile of credits, speechless. “B-But you can’t prove that I—and I didn’t even—but that’s not fair!”

Sophia gave him an annoyed look. “Screwing with time to steal from a casino also isn’t fair, Yenz. Give up the credits or you’re going to jail. Decide.”

Yenz chewed his lip. “Well, what if I gave you half?”

Sophia sighed. “I gave you your options, Yenz.”

“I mean, a pretty girl like you could do a lot with half a million credits, you know—”

“Yenz!”

“Goddamn it,” the alien muttered under his breath.

Then, he spread out his gills and a cloud of bright yellow gas exploded into the air.

“Shit!” Sophia stumbled back and blindly stuck out her arms until one of them connected with familiar armor. “Head for exit, go!”

She kicked off her heels and sprinted alongside Loki through the gas cloud until they reached the glass doors leading out of the casino. They spotted loose credits on the ground leading towards the bog that surrounded the property. Loki withdrew his pistol and flicked on the flashlight just as Yenz clumsily fell over the other side of the 9 ft iron fence, spilling more credits after he’d landed and cursing as he tried to scoop them up.

“Yenz, give it up!” Sophia snarled. “If you make me run through a bog in a dress, I’m gonna tear your gills off and stuff them up your ass!”

“Sorry, beautiful, but I’ve got plans for the money!” Yenz yelled back as he hightailed it towards the thick of the bog.

“Do you have a shot?” Sophia asked Loki.

He grimaced and lowered the weapon. “No or I’d have taken it. Little weasel.”

He holstered the pistol and linked his fingers, dropping to one knee. Sophia grumbled curses and propped her hands on his shoulders. “On three. One…two…three!”

Loki lifted her over his head and she grabbed the top of the fence, hauling herself over it and landing in a crouch over the fence. Loki took several steps back and then simply vaulted over it himself, landing next to her. Sophia paused to pull a small pistol from a thigh strap hidden beneath the dress.

Loki chuckled. “What else are you hiding under there?”

Sophia snorted. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

They continued forward, following the broken branches and scattered credits the alien had left in his wake. “Split up or stick together?” Loki asked.

“Stick together. It’s a bog. He can’t get that far and we’ll need an assist if one of us gets stuck. Plus, by now they’ve dispatched security so we have some extra help to cut him off.”

“That might be the least of his worries.”

Sophia glanced at him. “Why?”

Loki aimed the flashlight to one side and kicked at something brown, thin, and papery on the ground. Sophia knelt and nudged it with a finger. “Shit. That’s the skin from a bog snake. A big one, too, maybe twenty feet long.”

“Yes,” Loki mused. “And they’re nocturnal.”

“Damned idiot shouldn’t have run. We’d better hustle.”

They trekked over a hill and then were met with the deeper parts of the bog that had murky waters up to their knees. Sophia sighed and tucked the skirt of the dress up into the thigh straps before proceeding forward, her steps as careful as she could make them. “Bog snakes are constrictors and non-venomous, right?”

“Correct,” Loki said. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t smaller creatures who want to take a chunk out of those lovely legs of yours. Are you certain you don’t want to fall back, darling?”

“I’ve had worse. Just not as…” She made a face and shivered. “Icky.”

She touched his elbow, stopping him. “Wait, listen.”

Loki halted and concentrated. “Sounds like…hissing.”

They both swept the area more carefully and Sophia cursed again. “We’re in its nest. I’ve got eyes on eggs over here.”

“And I’ve got worse.”

Sophia hurried to his side and found the entire collection of credits spilled on a patch of wet plants. The hissing increased in volume as they walked towards where the land dropped off by twenty feet into a sheer cliff. The wooded area stretched out for miles beyond it. Directly below them was overhanging land that formed a small pool. There, in the center of the frothing, filthy water, was Yenz with an enormous bog snake choking the life out of him.

“Shit the bed!” Sophia snarled. “I told the idiot not to run.”

“We can recover the credits,” Loki said warningly. “There is no need to risk our lives to save the fool.”

“I know,” she groaned. “But I’m an agent of the law. I can’t just leave him to die like that.”

She stuck out her hand. “Grappling hook.”

Loki swore under his breath and passed it over. She sighted down the barrel to the other side of the cliff and fired. The hook sank into a hunk of ground not far from them. “I need you to lay down cover fire. Shoot close enough to scare it.”

“Are you certain?”

Sophia laughed. “Not even slightly.”

She jumped off the edge. Well, Loki could give her one thing: she was certainly fearless.

The line went taut and swung her through the air. She landed solidly with her feet to the wet soil along the cliff roughly on the same height as the pool and whistled to signal him. Loki opened fire on the water surrounding the snake, shooting spurts of water up around. The bog snake’s massive flat head turned and its yellow eyes aimed at Loki, its two rows of fangs glistening as it hissed at him in irritation. Yenz had turned blue by now, digging his hands into the snake’s coils to try to loosen them, wheezing weakly as it continued constricting him.

“Stubborn thing,” Sophia growled as the bog snake didn’t unfurl from around its victim. She aimed carefully and fired her pistol enough to graze one of the upper coils. The snake’s head whipped around to face her instead as its black blood oozed from the wound and it quickly unraveled from around Yenz, slithering towards her instead. Yenz fumbled in the pool towards the other side and grabbed onto the slippery rocks above him to climb back up.

“Help him up!” she ordered Loki as she dodged the snake’s snapping jaws and reeled herself higher out of its reach. Loki hurried to the edge of the cliff and hauled the alien over the side.

“Oh, I can’t thank you enough—”

Loki punched Yenz in the temple. He flopped onto the wet ground in an unconscious heap. He returned to the edge to see the reptile nearly catching Sophia’s heels as she retracted the line to bring her back up over the side. “Can you get clear?”

“Don’t kill it. It’s not his fault we’re in his territory.”

Loki growled in frustration. “He’ll follow you over the side if you climb back up.”

“I know. Rear pocket, left side.”

Loki searched his utility belt and found a small, black pellet. “It’s a flashbang. Squeeze it and throw on my count. One…two…three!”

The snake lunged again. Loki activated the flashbang and threw it over the cliffside. He turned his head and blocked his face with his arm as it went off. There was a loud fit of hissing and then a splash below. Once the light faded, he glanced over the side to see the bog snake at the bottom of the cliff, rolling its huge coils over and over in distress, but it had survived the fall.

“Sophia!” Loki yelled, paling as he didn’t spot her where she’d been hanging.

“Calm down, your highness.”

He turned to see she’d been not too far behind him, wet and smudged with mud and other things, but unharmed nonetheless. For just a second, he felt genuine relief. That puzzled him. She gave him the grappling hook and motioned for the cuffs, which he handed over. She yanked Yenz’ arms behind his back and slapped them on. Loki heaved him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and they trudged back to the casino’s estate, catching the security guards along the way and indicating where they could recover their credits.

By the time they finished filing the report with the casino’s owners, Yenz had roused. He sat up on the steps to the casino, blinking repeatedly at the two agents as his head cleared.

“Welcome back, you dumb shit,” Sophia spat.

“Hey,” Yenz whined. “He hit me!”

“I would have done worse had it not been for her,” Loki growled. “Be grateful, you simpleton.”

The alien’s shoulders sagged. “Yeah, I guess I screwed up, didn’t I? Was kinda hoping I’d get lucky. I mean, it was my lucky night, after all.”

“No one gets lucky screwing with time,” Sophia said. “And you could have gotten yourself killed over some lousy credits.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Yenz grumbled. “So what happens now?”

“You’re banned from the casino and Calypsis-8 for the rest of your life. If you’re as lucky as you think you are, the seedy boss that owns the place won’t put out a bounty on your head. You ruined my dress and made me walk through a fucking bog barefoot, so I should make good on my promise from earlier.”

Sophia pinched the bridge of her nose. “Instead, you’re gonna go back to your own time and never, ever do this again for as long as you live.”

Loki and Yenz gave her a double take. Yenz licked his lips. “You’re…not arresting me?”

“Prison’s full enough already with killers,” she said. “I’m not clogging it up with more pinheads. Stay out of the time stream. If I ever catch you again, you’re going away for ten to twenty. Get me?”

Yenz nodded too many times. “Y-Yes ma’am! I swear, I’m done, no more tampering!”

She glared one more time and then reached behind him, undoing his cuffs. He stood up and dusted himself off. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Yenz searched his pockets and withdrew a small device the size of a watch, resetting it. He then paused. “Ah, just to be clear, you didn’t mean all that sexy stuff you said in my ear earlier, right?”

“I will _shoot you in the head_ ,” Loki snarled. Yenz yelped and hit the launch button, disappearing in a bright flash of blue.

“Thank God that’s done,” Sophia sighed. “Let’s get my suit and get the hell out of here.”

“Why let him go?” Loki demanded as they entered the casino and headed for the coat and weapons check counter. “You said so yourself. The man is a pinhead.”

“He is. But I saw the look on his face when that bog snake had his number. Guy like that just got scared straight. He’s gonna be so thrilled to be alive that he’ll quit tempting fate and being lazy and get a job and stop screwing people over. Sometimes all it takes is one act of mercy and one good brush with death to set someone on a different path.”

Loki watched as she handed them her ticket and they passed her the large briefcase containing her suit. “You are very naïve for an agent of the law.”

“I believe in people,” she said simply. “Maybe I shouldn’t, but I do. That’s just the way I am.”

She paused before heading towards the ladies room to change. “You did good, by the way.”

He flicked her a teasing smile. “Careful, agent. That sounded like a compliment.”

“I can give credit where credit is due,” she sniffed.

“Well, while we’re on the subject…” He gave her a long, appreciative glance. “Even ruined, that dress is still stunning on you.”

She smiled. “Damn right it is.”

Sophia continued towards the ladies room, this time with an extra sway in her hips, and Loki chuckled to himself as he enjoyed the show.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Sophia hit a rough case and learn a little bit more about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter, but hopefully it's still the content you're all here for.

It only took a few more cases before Loki understood why there were so few TVA agents.

He hadn’t seen this much of his own blood in quite some time. It didn’t bring back pleasant memories, either, but rather the more nasty, recent ones he tried to bury. It was dripping all the way down one side of his spine and across the back of his left arm, soaked up by the long coat he wore over the damaged TVA armor. Every single step hurt. Pain throbbed sharply out from the throwing dagger currently lodged just below his shoulder blade. By the time they reached the steps outside of his apartment, his field of vision narrowed to a tunnel and his head pounded with dull, exhausted pain. Still, he’d refused to lean up against Sophia along the way.

Once he got the door open, he tried to slam it shut in her face, but she was much too quick. “Stop being an ass. You need medical attention.”

“Have I not suffered your incompetence enough for one day?” Loki spat. “Leave me be.”

“If I leave you be, you’ll bleed to death in less than an hour.”

“Then I’ll gladly go to hell knowing that you won’t be there.”

“You’re going there anyway, drama queen. I don’t see what’s the rush.” She shoved past him and he clenched his teeth to keep from screaming as his aching body protested. Sophia grabbed a fistful of his armor and dragged him behind her, shouldering the door to his bedroom open and shoving him in the direction of his bed. “Sit.”

“I am not your bloody pet!” Loki roared.

“Yes, because pets are loyal, obedient, and likable,” she replied from inside the washroom, shifting things about until she found his medical supplies. “Now sit.”

“I’ll die first.”

Sophia slung the heavy kit onto the bed and glared up at him. “Your legs are barely holding. If I wait another five minutes, you’ll be unconscious. Are you really going to be this childish and stupid?”

“Childish? Who do you think is responsible for this?”

“You are! I gave you direct orders and you disobeyed them. This is your fault, not mine.”

“Your orders were foolhardy. I told you that you needn’t take the lead.”

“I’m your commanding officer.”

He shoved his face near hers and his ragged voice crawled out of him laced with venom. “You are my slave driver.”

Sophia said nothing for several tense seconds, meeting his furious gaze. “That’s right. You don’t have a choice. You just do what I say. And I say get on the fucking bed before I fucking make you, Loki.”

“What is it, then? Will your delicate conscience not allow me to die? You believe in people, you told me. Is that it? You think you will reform me, woman? Do you think being underneath your boot will make me see the error of my ways and I will become a docile creature to come running when you call? Will you fix the broken, outcast prince, Sophia?”

He saw something flit through her dark eyes for a second. He couldn’t quite tell what it was, but his words had struck a nerve for certain. “If you’ve got a death wish, there’s nothing I can do about it. But I don’t think you do. You wouldn’t have fought as hard as you have in the past if you just wanted it all to end. If you want to blame me, then fine. I can’t stop you. I don’t care if you want my help or not. I’m responsible for you. Period. That’s my job.”

“Pretty, useless words from a pretty, useless girl.” He managed to force the words past his lips before he blacked out completely.

He woke up shirtless lying on his stomach in his bed, the pillow beneath his chin, his limbs partially dangling over the edge. Sophia’s steady hands occasionally brought a needle down and into his skin, but it didn’t hurt. Painkillers, then. She must have injected him after he’d fainted. He welcomed the fuzzy numbness.

“It wakes,” Sophia said dryly. “Go back to sleep. You’re tired.”

“Why are you doing this?” Loki murmured.

“Because you’re very heavy and I don’t feel like dragging your corpse to the undertaker.”

“No,” he said, finally opening his eyes enough to look at her. She sat in a chair pulled very close to the side of the bed, no longer wearing the upper half of her own armor. Instead, she wore a plain black blouse. He suspected the heavy armor made it harder to stitch him up, so she’d changed. Upon further inspection, he realized it was actually one of _his_ shirts. “Why do you work for this agency? It is a dangerous, thankless job.”

“They have an excellent healthcare plan,” she deadpanned.

Loki let out a frustrated breath. “I do not see what you could possibly gain from these cases.”

“Let me worry about that. Go back to sleep, Asgardian.”

“I have slept enough, Midgardian.” He eyed her. “Do you have any idea what you are doing to me?”

“I have a medical certification that is effective for over three thousand different species of alien,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Yes, I know what I’m doing, Loki.”

She winced a bit as she glanced over the expanse of his naked skin. “In fact, you may want to let me treat some of your old injuries. They worked you over pretty bad, didn’t they?”

“That is not your concern, woman.”

She finished the final stitch and snipped its ends. As she lay a bandage over it, she noticed how he tensed when her fingers came in contact with his skin. “Is that from the Avengers or from Thanos?”

“What?”

“You flinch a little when someone touches you. Every time. Bare skin or not.”

A storm rose in his chest. Loki shut his eyes and forced himself to calm down. “You are imagining things.”

Sophia sighed. “I know you’re mad at me and you don’t give a shit about yourself, but that’s still an indication of PTSD, Loki. It’s only going to get worse if you keep avoiding it.”

He slowly pushed to a sitting position. “I am not a well man, in case you cannot tell.”

She studied him for a long moment and then sighed again, muttering a curse under her breath. She stood up in front of him, not far from between his long legs, and did something rather unusual. She bunched up the loose material at the bottom of the borrowed shirt and lifted it to just below her rib cage on the right half of her body. Loki spotted a long, crooked scar across her side.

“Two years ago,” she said quietly. “An encounter with one of the daughters of Thanos. The blue one. Nebula. She was going for my kidney and missed.”

Loki flicked a glance up at her impassive expression and then back down at the scar. He settled a hand on her hip and turned her slightly, confirming a similar scar on her back. “The blade pierced through. How did you survive?”

“The TVA thinks I’m relatively valuable, so I have access to a serum that elongates my lifespan. It also makes me tougher than a normal human being, able to take more punishment. That being said, I’d rather not tangle with her again. If I hadn’t had a partner at the time, I’d be dead.”

“A partner, hmm?” Loki echoed, running his thumb across her torn skin. “I suspected as much. You never told me if you would agree to my offer to barter information. I’ll tell you about my time on Sanctuary if you tell me about what you’re doing here.”

“I don’t want to know about Sanctuary. That I can glean from all of this—” She gestured to some of the old bruises and scars dotted over his chest. “I want to know about New York.”

“Why do you want to know about New York?”

“Because I want to understand you, Loki.”

He closed his fingers over her skin a little tighter and drew her closer, between his knees, scrutinizing her. She let the shirt hem fall down over her skin, but didn’t remove his hand. He found it interesting. “What do you not understand, pray tell?”

“You say one thing and do another. You’re reckless, but you cling desperately to life. You can’t stand being told what to do, but you are excellent at following orders. You hate me for being the one to hold your leash, but you’re pleased by my approval when you get it. You want to rule, but you don’t care about being a good king. You are a walking contradiction, Loki. When your hologram was damaged and those men recognized you and insulted you, you snapped. One mention of Odin and it’s like you turn into a rabid lone wolf of some sort. I need to understand why if I’m going to risk my life out there with you every day.”

He watched her from under dark lashes. “This is a fascinating scar that is no doubt an excellent story.”

His lips curled into a sly smile. “But I am afraid it is not enough to access my backstory, as you so eloquently put it.”

Sophia exhaled through her nose, annoyed. “Then what did I get access to?”

“You are astute,” he admitted. “About my personality. Far more than I would have expected for a Midgardian. It is true that I despise following your orders and I will fight with every inch of my being to remain who I am in spite of the accursed sentencing.”

He licked his lips. “That being said, I have never been told what to do by a woman before and I find it disturbingly intriguing.”

Sophia cocked her head slightly and snorted softly. “That actually makes sense. And I am half your size. Have we accidentally uncovered a kink, your highness?”

Loki laughed. “We very well might have, agent.”

She grinned. “That’s the first thing you’ve ever said that I kind of like.”

“Is that why you’re letting me touch you?”

“Consider it me having pity on the poor injured prince.” She nearly shivered as his fingers spread out, clearly heading for the sensitive small of her back.

“And exactly how much will you allow me to get away with?”

She gave him an equally sly look. “Don’t get cheeky, Loki. There isn’t enough blood left in your body for what you’re thinking about.”

Loki grinned. “Try me.”

Sophia chuckled and flicked his ear lightly, the gesture bordering on affectionate. “Good night, Loki. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”

She slipped out of his grasp and shut his bedroom door behind her. He stared at the door, still smiling a bit, and fished out one of his devices. He typed in what she’d said into a search engine, as it sounded suspiciously like a quote. “What the hell is _The Princess Bride?”_


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It turns out Loki's wounds go a lot deeper than Sophia thought.

_“Sister Rust, where are you now?”_

Sophia’s eyes drifted open as her alarm woke her with soft lyrics. She stared at the ceiling of her apartment as the cobwebs of sleep fell away and dissipated. The dream didn’t, though. She could still see it so clearly.

Loki, kneeling at her feet, his fingers drenched in blood, taking a bite out of her still-beating heart with a secretive smile on his red lips.

She slid an arm over her eyes and sighed deeply.

_“Sister Rust_

_I need you now_

_‘Cause I got a feeling_

_It’s you and me again_

_Waiting for the credits to end now_

_And forever_

_Something in our hearts_

_That if we were to start_

_Would pull us away_

_There’s nothing we can do_

_To stop feeling this blue anyway…”_

“You’re playing with fire, girl,” Sophia whispered to herself. Then she climbed out of bed, dressed in a lavender wrap dress and sandals, made some coffee that she put in two thermoses, and then walked next door to Loki’s apartment.

She decided to give him a chance at privacy and called out as she opened the front door. “Loki? You up yet?”

No response. Well, she had to be sure his stitches hadn’t reopened during the night and that he wasn’t unconscious, so she knocked and then pushed the bedroom door open.

And what she saw made her drop the coffee.

Loki, curled onto his side in the fetal position, clawing open the skin on his ribs.

“Loki!” She darted for the bed and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him hard. He was paler than usual and doused in sweat, his features drawn with pain, but still completely asleep. “Loki, wake up, it’s me.”

He wouldn’t budge, his teeth clenched, hissing and panting into the sheets from whatever he was seeing in his nightmare. Sophia cursed and shoved as hard as she could against one of his shoulders. It managed to roll him onto his back and she climbed on top of him, shaking him. “Loki, come on, don’t do this to me. Wake up, damn you! Wake up!”

She slapped his cheek, not hard, but still firmly. Loki’s eyes popped open as he gasped so hard it made his entire chest jump erratically. He hadn’t been breathing properly. Immediately, he struggled in her grip, trying to push her off, but she flattened her hands to his shoulders and pressed him down against the sheets. “Loki, it’s me. It’s Sophia.”

“S-Sophia?” he panted out hoarsely. He tried to rise again, but she pushed harder.

“No,” she barked, narrowing her eyes at him. “Stay.”

Loki shuddered, but didn’t move this time, saying nothing. “Tell me who you are.”

“Loki of Asgard,” he rasped. “Son of Frigga. Brother of Thor.”

“Tell me where you are right now.”

“C-Contraxia in the Halcyon Galaxy.”

Sophia finally relaxed somewhat. “Good boy.”

She let go of his shoulders and scooted off the bed. She retrieved some gauze and disinfectant from his medical supplies. He tried to sit up again and she glared. “Stay, Loki.”

He frowned, but again, didn’t move. She returned to his bed and straddled him again, cleaning the wound. He lay there, puzzled, as he watched her. “I can do this myself, you know.”

“Oh, we’re past that point by now, your highness,” she snapped, though her movements were still steady and practiced. “If you don’t want to tell me about New York, fine. If you don’t want to tell me about Asgard, fine.”

She smoothed the bandages down over the fresh scratch marks. “But this? This is different. You were having a waking nightmare. And this is self-harm, whether it was unconscious or not. That’s one of the biggest red flags in terms of mental health that is even possible. So either you talk to me about this scar or I’m going to turn in a report to force you into six weeks of psychological evaluation. Your choice.”

She crossed her arms and stared down at him, stubbornly refusing to move. Loki nearly wanted to laugh that a woman half his size and barely a quarter of his strength had effectively trapped him. He forced himself to relax and breathe normally before answering. “I tried to kill myself after I lost the throne.”

A mixture of sympathy and disbelief crossed her lovely face. “Shit, Loki.”

“It was not my proudest moment,” he admitted. “But I fell into despair and saw no purpose continuing if I would never be meant for the throne I had been promised and that Thor would always be seen as the golden boy and the hero of Asgard instead of me. The portal to Jotunheim was collapsing and so I just…let go. Thinking it would be my end.”

He winced. “But it wasn’t. The portal had many exits and I fell through one that led to Sanctuary. They brought me aboard as a prisoner. I did not know of Thanos then, only of a rumored warlord slaughtering half the population of distant worlds. In retrospect, it was likely calculated that Thanos did not try to cross swords with Asgard. Our forces are still formidable and it would be a loss on his part. However, at this time, I was unaware of what they were capable of.”

Loki took a deep breath. “The standard procedure for capture on Asgard is to say nothing. I followed it. They questioned me and I would not speak. After the beatings produced no results, they took me to one of Thanos’ children, the one they call Ebony Maw.”

Loki’s hand slid down over the bandages hiding the vertical scar on his ribs. “Maw is a clever creature. He understands that torture is not about pain. It is about patience. He had a machine. It was on a timer. Every hour, it would insert another millimeter of one of my daggers into my ribs.”

Sophia sucked in a breath before she could stop herself. “Jesus _Christ.”_

Loki let out a humorless laugh. “I would’ve been grateful to see that chap during my time with that machine. I longed for death, but Maw refused to grant it. I bled and suffered for days until I finally broke. I told them everything. Maw brought me to Thanos and he decided I was useful enough to live and be granted the revenge I sought against my brother and Midgard.”

“There is something I never understood,” she said quietly. “After you escaped Midgard with the Tesseract, why didn’t you give it to Thanos so he wouldn’t come after you?”

Loki shook his head slightly. “It would not have mattered. Thanos told me that my victory would depend on both factors: disassembling the Avengers and giving him the Tesseract. I lost the war. The Avengers are still intact. It would not matter if I gave Thanos what he sought; he’d kill me anyway. I figured it was my best chance at escaping far enough away to live out the remainder of my life. I could conjure a scheme to return to Asgard and retake the throne, perhaps, before my unfortunate fate landed me here with you.”

He paused and glanced at her current position across his hips. “Though, at the moment, perhaps it is not so unfortunate.”

She almost smiled. “One track mind.”

Sophia brushed her hair back and sighed again. “Thank you for telling me. God knows I’m no psychiatrist, but you need to talk to someone about what happened to you or you’re going to get worse and hurt yourself again. If you don’t want it to be me, that’s fine. There are medical personnel at HQ who can help. I don’t want to walk in on this again, Loki. Do you understand?”

“Not entirely, I confess,” he murmured. “Why do you care, Sophia?”

“I told you, I’m responsible for you as your—” Loki gripped her waist and flipped their positions on the bed. He didn’t try to pin her. He planted his hands on either side of her and leaned his waist against her knees, his blue-green eyes alight with several unsettling things. She stared back at him and slowly allowed her legs to part, to let him lean between her thighs, his face inching dangerously close to her own.

“Why,” Loki whispered. “Do you care, Sophia? I know your strength and your resolve and your unflinching sense of morality. I know you can subdue me any time you wish. I know that you do not want to let anyone close to you.”

He nudged her hips with his own. “And yet here we are.”

“You’re not the only one who gets lonely, Loki.”

His breath caught, his eyes widening slightly as he looked back at her. Sophia chewed her lower lip for a moment before continuing. “And I may not look it, but I’m plenty fucked up myself. I shouldn’t be entertaining this kind of behavior. It’s a bad idea all around, but…”

She shook her head, smiling sadly. “Truth be told, it’s been a while for me and I like the attention. There, I said it. Happy?”

“That all depends on your next answer,” he purred. “Are you going to let me fuck you?”

Sophia smirked. “I haven’t decided yet.”

He smirked back. “You like this, don’t you? A prince in chains, at your every beck and call.”

“It does put a bit of a pep in my step.”

“Mm.” He leaned closer, close enough to kiss her, but at the last second, he slid to one side, lining his lips up with her ear. “I will unravel you if you let me, darling. Alight your nerves with hellfire. Fuck you so deep and hard that it leaves an imprint in your very soul, in the fabric of who you are. I will stain you. Corrupt you. Bring you down to my level. Unmake you.”

He dragged the hard ridge of his clothed cock against the plush heat between her thighs. “And it will feel so good that you will beg me to do it again and again.”

Sophia chuckled. “Trust me, your highness. If I take you to bed, you’ll be the one begging.”

“We shall see.” He lifted up to face her again. “Will you let me thank you for healing me?”

“Depends on your definition of gratitude.”

He lowered his lids into a sultry look. “A kiss.”

She pursed her lips. “And I’m supposed to believe that’s not a trap?”

He chuckled. “I may be a criminal, but I understand how consent works, darling. Just a kiss. Nothing more.”

“This is a terrible idea.”

“Quite. Your answer?”

She let her eyes rove over him from head to toe. “Yes.”

Loki cupped her chin with his fingers, tilting it up, his smile predatory and sinister as he whispered three words before his lips took hers.

“As you wish.”

The kiss was heat incarnate.

And it was over much too quickly for either of their liking.

"Since the invention of the kiss," Loki whispered as he opened his eyes to look at her. "There have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind."

“You watched _The Princess Bride_ last night?” she mumbled, their lips still touching.

“Mm,” he confirmed, his voice already several octaves lower.

“What did you think?”

“I do not care for Midgard, but I admit the culture has its merits at times. That film is one of them.”

Sophia beamed up at him. “So you have taste after all.”

Loki snickered. “Clearly. Look at where I am right now.”

An easy laugh slipped out of her then. “Alright, that’s enough rule breaking for one morning. Get up and get dressed. We have work to do, your highness.”

Loki just waggled his eyebrows. “As you wish.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Join me in all the good shudders imagining Loki quoting The Princess Bride. Yum.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophia and Loki run into one of Sophia's old friends and Loki learns something important about his new partner.

“So the rumors are true!”

Sophia stopped mid-stride. Loki noted her shoulders slumping slightly before turning around to see a tall alien with the same TVA armor as them. His skin was dark ombre and he had two sets of brown eyes and a goatee, rest of him was mostly humanoid, except for his stature; he stood at seven feet tall, leaning against the wall of the HQ building smoking something that produced an odd bright purple vapor. They’d just finished closing a case and dropping off a particularly nasty perpetrator that knocked eight years off Loki’s sentence.

The alien’s gaze settled over Sophia and the expression was somewhere between admiration and derision. It soon raked over Loki and the alien smiled, revealing short but sharp incisors. “Sophia’s got herself a new pet.”

Loki stilled. Tranquil fury slowly wove its way up his spine and bled out into all his limbs. He took a single step forward, but Sophia shoved her hand against his chest, preventing him from moving forward.

“Llark,” Sophia said with a pretty smile. “Why, it’s so nice of you to come all this way just to get on my nerves. You don’t have much of a home life, do you?”

Llark chuckled. “Oh, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I just had to come and see for myself. You really do have the Prince of Asgard on a leash, don’t you?”

Loki surged forward again, but Sophia held her ground, not letting him pass. She turned her head and glared at him. “Loki, we talked about this. Don’t rise to every single childish taunt thrown at you.”

He clenched his jaw. “And I suppose you tolerate such insults to your reputation?”

She glanced back at the smirking alien. “Oh, it’s not about that. Llark is yanking your chain because he knows you can’t retaliate. He’s just hoping you’ll lose your temper and rush him, which means you’ll get electrocuted out here in front of all these nice people.”

Loki grimaced as he realized she was right. Llark’s smile widened into a pointy grin. “Damn. Am I that predictable, Sophie?”

“It’s _Sophia_ ,” she said sharply, enough that Loki noticed the sudden vitriol in her tone. “And maybe my so-called pet can’t mess you up, but I have no quarrel with taking you out back and pounding the stupid right out of your face.”

“I wouldn’t mind a pounding, actually. It’s been a while.”

Sophia straightened and lowered her hand towards her knife. Loki’s hackles rose. He didn’t think she’d do it, but the change in her body language worried him.

Llark’s dark eyes flicked down to the weapon. “Looks good on you, by the way. Seen you wield it too. You’re pretty handy with it. Old man would be proud.”

“If you value all of where your limbs currently are attached to your body,” Sophia whispered. “You’ll walk away. Right now.”

LLark pushed off from the wall and exhaled another mouthful of the strange smoke, glancing at her companion. “Does he know?”

Her shoulders rose and fell faster as her breathing quickened. “Shut. Up.”

“You should tell him before someone else does,” Llark said quietly. “Might save his life.”

Loki saw her right arm tense and finally intervened and dragged her back a couple of steps from the big alien. “Enough. Either kill him or walk away. I have no need to stand here witnessing this idiocy.”

Llark glanced at him. “There’s a good boy. Why don’t you throw ‘im a treat, Sophie?”

“My good man,” Loki said, finally bothering to look at him. “Whilst it is perfectly true that I cannot physically attack you without suffering discomfort, if one more insult exits your lips, I will happily employ an entire legion of Chitauri to gut you, skin you, and turn you into a belt and a pair of boots.”

Llark laughed. “So you ride with Thanos one time and you think you’re enough to scare me, little man?”

“Yes, I am enough. That is the advantage of being ten centuries old. I know the measure of men.”

Loki leaned in a bit. “And cowards are noisy.”

The smile dropped off Llark’s mouth and onto Loki’s instead. Loki settled his hand under Sophia’s arm and tugged her backward. She resisted at first, still glaring at Llark, but eventually her legs moved and they headed down the steps of HQ. He kept his mouth shut until they’d reached the Bat and were safely inside.

“Old lover, I take it?”

“Congratulations,” she grumbled as she started the pre-flight check. “You won the prize again, Captain Obvious.”

“No accounting for taste, obviously,” Loki said, fixing her with a steady look. “He’s quite the bloody charmer, isn’t he?”

“I was drunk,” she spat. “Very, very drunk, alright? Sue me.”

“It was not an accusation, merely commentary.” His eyes strayed to the knife. “What did he mean?”

“None of your fucking business, Loki.”

“You nearly attacked him,” he continued, glaring at her. “Don’t try to deny it. I saw you. You were thinking about it. You told me not to rise to his childish taunts and yet you were willing to slit his throat if I hadn’t stopped you. If you kill another agent and land yourself in prison, then I am in the exact same boat, so it is my business, Sophia. Whatever it is that he did to you must have been something horrid if you thought it was worth throwing your life away.”

“He didn’t do shit to me. It’s what he knows. What everyone knows.” She exhaled and shook her head before slamming on the throttle and blasting them off into the upper atmosphere. Loki watched her carefully. It was in direct contrast to the confident movements he’d seen the first time she’d taken him to Contraxia. He knew by now when she was merely irritated. This was different.

She was… _hurt._

He said nothing for the remainder of the trip, not even when they arrived back to the apartment complex and went their separate ways. He fixed himself dinner, reviewed some cases, and allowed it to get very late. Then he took a bottle of what Contraxia fondly called “the cleanser” and walked next door. He knocked. It took a while, but eventually, Sophia appeared.

She glared at him immediately. “Fuck off.”

“Tell me a story and I will,” he countered. Then he raised the bottle as well as two silver tumblers. She glanced at it and appeared to contemplate things before sighing and letting him in.

Loki shut the door and followed her to the futon in the living area. She hadn’t decorated. All the things here were the things that originally came with his apartment. He concluded it meant they’d moved her here to be with him instead of the other way around. She must have had a permanent home somewhere else.

Sophia flopped down on the far end of the futon and stretched out, drawing his attention to her powerful, bare brown legs, smooth in the dim lamp light from nearby. She wore a tank top and boy shorts, both of which flattered her curves immensely without trying too hard. He didn’t bother hiding where he looked; she wouldn’t care anyhow. He smiled as he noticed her toes were painted a pearlescent white color that flashed different hues of blue and purple.

He sat at the other end and poured them both a drink. They took sips and hissed in unison as the alcohol burned all the way down.

“I didn’t have shit when I was a kid,” Sophia murmured after a while. “Grew up in Harlem. I was dodging drug dealers and bottles my mother threw at me for most of my childhood. Finished high school, went to an art institute. Got my BA. Was working on my masters when he showed up.”

She took a long sip. “His name was Ryler. He was a TVA agent they sent to stop this monster that accidentally fell through a wormhole. I was walking home from the library when all hell broke loose and they were fighting in the street, him and this crazy looking thing with horns and tentacles. The monster had him pinned, knocked his gun away. I picked it up and shot it in the face.”

Loki’s brows lifted in surprise. She smirked. “Yeah, I know. Who knew I had it in me? Anyway, standard protocol if you get spotted by a non-advanced species is to induce a memory wipe. It’s not clean and precise like in the movies. It just resets someone’s brain exactly a day from the incident. And he went in to do it, but I think he just couldn’t after I saved his life.”

She let out an amused snort. “So after he got rid of the monster’s remains, he took me go get a beer. We talked. He told me who he was and what he did and he asked me if I knew what I wanted to do with my life and I said, ‘hell no’ and he said he could put in a good word for me if I wanted to become an agent.”

“Surely it was not that easy,” Loki said.

Sophia laughed. “Of course not. Ryler got his ass demoted for bringing some skinny little Midgardian back to HQ. He broke all kinds of protocol and the only reason they didn’t fire him is he was literally their best agent. They weren’t going to humor him and keep me until they tested me and found out that I was really good at following orders and shooting things. They granted me probational status and assigned him as my mentor. We closed over four hundred cases together.”

She cleared her throat. “And then, about a year ago, we were on a case and it turns out that it was just a lure. One of his old enemies set a trap. We walked right into it. No way out. Just…wave after wave of aliens shooting at us, tearing at us, trying to kill us.”

Sophia swallowed hard as she stared into the tumbler. “And, uh, both our suits were too damaged to jump back to our time. His suit had a leak. Mine just had a busted control, but the core was intact. We holed up in one part of the ship and the aliens were breaking through the barrier and…”

She took a shuddering breath. “And I told him that I could pull my core out of the suit and it would send him away from there. It was dangerous. Unstable. He’d have zero clue where he’d end up, but maybe he’d be somewhere safe and live through this and…”

She smiled sadly and pushed her dark curls off of her forehead. “And that idiot looks at me and then he looks at the core and he says, ‘See ya round, kiddo.’ And I think he’s saying goodbye because he’s about to leave, but he doesn’t. He just…slaps the core into my hand and activates it.”

Loki exhaled and shut his eyes. She drained the glass and set it on the table. Loki refilled it. She drank more. “I came around and I was back at HQ, my time. Dunno how. Must’ve been fate or a miracle. Of course I ran straight inside and got another suit and I went back for him, but…”

Sophia shook her head. “He was gone. Can’t get him back. I studied for years trying to find a loophole, but it’s final. Funny thing about being an agent is you have the whole universe at your fingertips, but there are some things you can’t fix. TVA agents can’t use our suits for personal reasons so I can’t take a pleasure cruise to a time before he died. I can’t go back and save him. The Laws of Time say if an agent dies in action, you can’t change their fate or it creates a paradox. I just have to live with it.”

“It’s his knife you carry, then?” Loki asked gently.

“Ding, ding, ding,” she said with a hoarse laugh. “You gotta stop it with the rhetorical questions, your highness.”

She drank again. “Llark was one of Ryler’s trainees. One of his best. I told everyone what happened, but with the suits damaged, there’s no recording to prove it. Some people think I left him there to die.”

“Bastards,” Loki snarled. “Every one of them. You are many things, but never a coward.”

Sophia just shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. He’s still gone. And I’m not.”

She tipped the glass to finish it, but Loki stopped her. He closed his fingers around hers, his voice soft, his eyes softer. “That’s enough for now.”

He set the tumbler aside and she let him. “I am sorry for your loss. It’s a terrible thing to lose a friend like that and to be blamed for it by some.”

She shrugged again. He licked his lips, studying her. “Is he the one that called you Sophie?”

She smiled faintly. “Yeah, he used to tease me about being soft. Softie Sophie.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Soft? You?”

“I like stuffed animals, for instance,” she admitted, rolling her eyes. “Which tickled him pink, of course. He used to leave them for me in my apartment no matter how many times I threw them out. Dumbass.”

Loki smiled. “I would not have anticipated that, but thank you for sharing it.”

“Thanks for the alcohol. Hurts a lot less to talk about it when you’re shitfaced.” She settled back against the arm of the futon. “By the way, you look even more fantastic when I’m drunk.”

Loki laughed. It startled him. It was a real laugh, not a mocking chuckle of some sort. She beamed when she noticed, her brown eyes sparkling with delight. “You’re actually cute when you laugh.”

Loki frowned at her. “I most certainly am not.”

“You are,” she insisted. “You get these little dimples and smiles lines and everything. It’s precious.”

Loki groaned as he reached for his own glass. “Oh, dear. I believe you are quite inebriated if that is what you think.”

“I am drunk as a skunk,” she confirmed. “But what did you expect? You gave me two glasses of something that’s like eighty percent alcohol. You really don’t know much about humans, do you?”

“I know enough for now, especially about the one who is currently driving me mad.”

He poured another belt and took a sip, hissing. A moment later, her arms wound about his neck and she propped her chin on his shoulder. He froze, surprised, but didn’t turn to look at her just yet.

“We could fuck right now, you know,” she said thoughtfully. “I mean, it wouldn’t be a good idea or anything. But we could.”

He licked the edge of his lips. “Now is that what you want or is that because you’re drunk?”

“Little from Column A, little from Column B.”

He finished the glass and slowly, smoothly turned towards her, sliding his fingers around her wrists. He gently plucked her arms from around him and arranged her against the other end of the futon again, but he also didn’t draw away. Her skin was temptingly warm and she’d managed to hook one of her legs around the other side of him when he’d moved. The solid weight of her thigh against his chest sent chills down his spine.

“You are being a very naughty little Sophie,” he whispered. “I would advise you to behave before I am forced to reprimand you.”

She bit her bottom lip. He fought not to glance down at it. “That actually sounds like fun.”

“Believe me, it is, but I only have fun with girls when they are sober. You are not. So you must be a good little Sophie and get some rest.”

She slid her hand down over his thigh and rubbed, watching his pupils dilate, feeling his warm breath on her cheeks. “What if I don’t want to be a good little Sophie?”

He slid his hand up her calf muscle and lightly ran a fingertip underneath her knee. She gasped slightly and he chuckled, realizing she was ticklish. “Then I shall take great pleasure in tying you up and tucking you into bed all needy and neglected and frustrated.”

“Frustrated, huh?” she whispered as her own fingers brushed the bulge in his trousers. “But I wouldn’t be the only one, would I?”

“Certainly not,” he murmured back. “I suspect my dreams will have quite the singular focus tonight.”

She let out a low, sultry laugh. “Ditto. You’d better go before we both do something stupid, namely each other.”

“Fair enough. But first, to bed with you.” He lifted her other leg into his lap and then dragged her forward enough to pick her up and carry her towards the bedroom.

“Loki,” she laughed along the way. “Don’t tell me you’re secretly a gentleman.”

“I am a fiend and a thief and a scoundrel,” he sniffed as he set her down on her bed carefully. “You will speak of this to no one or I will destroy you.”

Sophia curled around her pillow, still laughing as her eyes closed. “Good night, my sweet prince.”

He couldn’t help smiling before he shut the door. “Good night, my sweet Sophie.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki exacts his revenge from last night's temptation and it goes a lot better than expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RATING CONFIRMED. I regret nothing.

The alarm didn’t get a chance to wake Sophia the next morning. She hadn’t set it. Instead, her comm-link beeped indicating she’d been hailed and she groaned, reaching an arm out and sticking it in her ear. “What?”

“It wakes,” Loki purred, his tone at its most insufferable.

“What the hell do you want, your highness?”

“Revenge,” he said frankly.

Sophia snorted as she rolled onto her back. “For what?”

“For tempting me last night. You’ve no idea the restraint it took me not to accept your offer.”

“And that somehow translates to you hailing me over my earpiece instead of exacting your so-called revenge in person?”

“Yes. As a matter of fact, my revenge depends upon it entirely.”

“Oh, dear,” she deadpanned. “I’m terrified.”

“Yes, well, you should be. Before I enact my nefarious plans, are you in good health?”

“Yeah, I don’t get hungover. Side effect of the serum. Well, get on with it or I’m going back to sleep.”

“As you wish.” 

She pretended not to shudder. Those words sounded far too delicious with that velvet voice of his.

She waited for him to say something again, but he didn’t. She frowned, about to speak up, but then she felt it. A slow, pleasurable stroking sensation across her upper thighs. She gasped and fumbled for the sheets, glancing down to see a cloud of green magic swirling near her pelvis. “Loki!”

“Say the word and I shall stop,” he murmured in her ear, his tone utterly seductive and sinister, shooting a wave of incredibly pleasurable shivers down her spine.

Sophia licked her lips as she felt another stroke, delivered over her sex this time, heightening the heavenly bliss that had just started to race through her veins. “Well, I have to know what you’re doing first before I give an answer.”

“Tactile magic, just as I did when I disarmed you. However, I decided not to neglect myself this time. You are feeling what I am feeling.”

That certainly got her blood pumping. “Loki…are you getting off right now?”

“Yes. Does it bother you?”

She managed to prevent a moan from escaping the next time the magic swept down over her core. “N-Not as much as it probably should. This is all kinds of wrong.”

Sophia shut her eyes and sunk down into the bed, sighing wistfully. “Mm, but it’s the kind of wrong I could get used to.”

Loki chuckled softly. “Then you consent to your punishment?”

She licked her lips. “I was a naughty girl last night.”

“Yes, you were. Therefore, you must follow the rules. You may not touch yourself. You will only feel my touch. I will know if you have disobeyed me. You are to lay still and endure until I am satisfied. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Do me a favor, naughty Sophie. Spread your legs for me.”

Sophia parted her thighs on the bed. Loki hummed. The magic then surged inside her all at once, forming into an all-too-familiar shape that she instantly recognized. She cried out and grabbed the pillow beneath her head, squeezing with all her might as her body arched off the mattress. All at once, she realized what he’d so cleverly done; surrounded his cock with the magic and projected it onto her, effectively linking their bodies without actually touching her.

“God, Loki,” she whined before she could help herself. _“Yes.”_

The magic withdrew and pressed inside her painfully slow, so very intentional that she couldn’t help squirming on each thrust. She strangled her voice as much as possible, wanting to tell him to speed up, but she knew the torture was the whole point. He wanted to drive her mad with his teasing. After all, he was a demigod. He had her by a thousand years and he could certainly temper himself better than she could, which meant he was waiting for her to break. She thought maybe she’d be able to weather the storm for a while, but of course, as if sensing this, Loki decided to break the silence.

“I can just picture you lying there in your sheets, helpless, lost in your pleasure,” he whispered. “Trying with every ounce of your will not to give in, but you know it’s exactly what I want. I want you desperate for me. Desperate for this cock.”

Sophia let out a shaky laugh. “In your dreams, Asgardian.”

“I’ve only just begun, darling. I will have you begging me for your release soon enough.”

She convulsed as the magic inside her quickened its pace and bit her bottom lip to trap more moans from crawling out. She’d been no stranger to sex in the past, but this was something else entirely. Her nerves felt raw and oversensitive, completely under his spell. She wanted badly to disobey him and touch the other parts of her body that his teasing had made ache, but she knew he’d stop if she did.

“You’re already breathing hard, my naughty little Sophie. You want to come, don’t you? Release all that tension bundled up inside that beautiful body. You know exactly where you need me most. You’re dripping wet right now, aren’t you? You long to be satisfied. You want to be ridden hard and put up wet, don’t you? You want me to fuck you raw and deep until you fall apart for me.”

Sophia groaned and rolled over onto her belly, trying to stifle the sound of her pleasure. Loki laughed softly. “Oh, it’s far too late now, darling. Nothing can stop it. You’re going to come. You can already feel it building up inside, can’t you? You’re shaking all over. You can’t think about anything else but how much you want it. Shall I go faster, darling?”

She smothered a whimper into the pillow as the magic rushed into her faster and faster, pulling noises from her that she’d never even made before as her toes curled from the sheer nirvana exploding through her body from head to toe. Her hips rutted against the bed for extra pressure, light sweat coating her skin as she tried not to succumb in vain.

“You have to come, Sophie,” Loki breathed. “Mm, you have to come for me. I’ll only stop if you come.”

“Fuck!” She clenched her teeth as her inner thighs flexed and tightened in warning. Her stomach trembled as she tried to hold her place, but the magic wouldn’t stop filling her completely, hitting her spot deep inside, unraveling her very person. She lasted as long as she could, but surrender was inevitable. Her eyes rolled back and she gasped raggedly as the sweetness inside her peaked.

And, just before she reached her climax, Loki _stopped._

Sophia froze on the bed in disbelief, sweaty and disheveled, and most of all, unsatisfied.

Loki laughed quietly at her sudden silence. “I told you I wanted revenge.”

“Loki,” she snarled. “I will literally _kill you_ if you don’t finish the job.”

“Oh, I intend to finish it quite thoroughly, darling. But you’ll have to come get it yourself.” _Click._

He hung up on her.

Sophia lay there for several stunned seconds. He’d given her a choice. She could of course come to her senses and leave things where they were, as a flirtation, as nothing more than sexual tension and banter. After all, it would be better for them both in the long run not to get entangled.

Yes, it would be the smartest, most logical thing to do to let it drop. Go no further.

Which was why she stomped out of her apartment and pounded on his door. It opened a moment later. “Look, you son of a bitch—”

Loki yanked her inside, pinned her to the door, and kissed her senseless. She didn’t fight it. She’d been hoping for that reaction, in fact. She threw her arms around his neck and fisted his hair with one hand, lifting her legs up and around his waist. He lifted her immediately and shoved his hands inside her shorts, plunging two of those long, elegant fingers inside her aching, sopping wet core, and she came without warning, shouting wordless praise into his mouth as she claimed her badly needed climax.

“Yes,” Loki hissed as he felt her slick inner walls twitched around his fingers. “Just as sweet as I imagined.”

He didn’t give her time to recover. He plunged them in brutally hard and fast, quickly building her again, biting and sucking and licking at her plush lips, gladly devouring every moan that left her as he pushed her over the edge into a second equally fantastic orgasm. He fought back his own urge to moan at the intoxicating scent of her skin, her hair, the delirious pleasure of her legs wrapped around him. He had longed for intimacy and touch and she was everything he’d wanted and needed.

Loki hefted her in his arms and carried her to his bed without another word, kicking the door shut along the way. Her back had hardly touched the mattress when she flipped him over and straddled him instead. The authority in her expression made his cock twitch in anticipation.

“For the record,” Sophia said as she pulled off her tank top. “I usually don’t like being teased and manhandled. You’re the exception because it turns out you’re pretty good at it. Let’s cut the crap and get down to brass tacks. I want to fuck the living shit out of you and vice versa. You’re a lot stronger than me, I admit, but you don’t have to hold back for my sake. With what you’ve suffered recently, I’m sure you’ve got a lot of demons to exorcise and I don’t mind being the one to take that kind of punishment. I’m no angel either. Are we on the same page, your highness?”

He nodded. “We are, darling.”

“Good.” She smiled and lowered her hands towards his pelvis. “Last time I checked, I’m behind by two orgasms. Time to even the score.”

Loki let out a hoarse chuckle as she drew his undergarments down. “This isn’t a competition.”

She batted her lashes. “You sure about that, God of Mischief?”

He couldn’t stifle a groan in time as she wrapped her fingers around his cock, her tone playful. “It’s a shame you’re so irritating, Loki. You really are gorgeous.”

A faint flush filled his cheeks. She winked before taking him inside her mouth, slowly at first, curling her tongue up the underside of the shaft and over the tip. Loki’s eyelids fluttered, but he didn’t let them close. He wanted to watch the powerful goddess of a woman hold him literally in the palm of her hand. Chaotic emotions exploded in a conflagration inside him. Here he was being pleased by the very woman who held him captive and kept him from his ambitions, and yet her companionship strengthened him in ways he hadn’t thought possible.

And it had been forever since he’d felt anything so good.

She took her time, not as slow as he’d been with her at first, clearly enjoying herself, her pace immaculate as he felt his release at a steady incline towards the heavens. The light tickle of her curls against his bare skin only made him more sensitive and he stroked her hair in encouragement, marveling at its softness against his fingers and palm.

True to form, she withdrew when he’d nearly achieved his release, her smile just as luscious as what she’d been doing to him so far. “Do you want to come, Loki?”

“Not if you’re going to make me beg for it.”

She laughed. “Pride cometh before the fall, you know.”

“Don’t throw stones in a glass house, darling.”

“You haven’t answered my question, Loki,” she said in a lilting tone that made him shiver with want.

“You know I do,” he rasped.

“I’m not going to make you beg,” she conceded. “But I want to hear you say it.”

He smirked at her. “Take off the brassiere and we have a deal.”

She sat up and unclipped the black bra. Loki outright growled at the sight of her pert breasts, wanting nothing more than to wrap his fingers and lips around them, but he’d have to wait first.

“I want to come, Sophia,” he said breathlessly, staring at her naked beauty, transfixed.

“Mm, good boy, Loki,” she whispered in return, her thick lashes lowering over those mahogany eyes. “Because I want to make you come.”

She slipped his cock inside her mouth a final time, her cheeks hollowing as she sucked him hard, taking him in all the way to the root. Loki arched up from the bed and cursed in Old Norse as he came down her throat. He came harder than he had in ages, so hard his vision bled to white for several seconds, the pleasure so great it overwhelmed him.

He shivered as he felt her soft lips making a journey up from his hips, over his abdomen, along his chest, her tongue darting out to lightly trace the shape of his scars, until she sat across his lap. She giggled at the dazed, pleasantly drunken look on his face. “I certainly hope that’s not it for you, your highness.”

“Certainly not,” he said as he wrapped his big hands around her waist. “I’ll be right as rain in a moment.”

He rolled her onto her back and flashed her a sharp toothed grin. “After I have a taste of this sweet little cunt.”

His skillful fingers peeled off the shorts and black panties as his lips partook of her breasts, lavishing them with bites that made her keen and arch into his touch. He shoved her knees further apart as he licked circles around her nipples, sliding his palms down over the smooth expanse of her thighs. He angled two fingers inside her again and delved them in to the third knuckle, growling as he felt the heat and wetness he so craved yet again. He kissed down the center of her body an inch at a time as he pumped both digits deep, listening to the gasps it drove from his captive. He let his hot breath curl over her clit, but didn’t touch it, which drew a whine from her that made him chuckle. His eyes roved over the whole of her, naked and eager for more, and he licked his lips.

He pulled his fingers free and licked them clean one at a time, exhaling in a satisfied tone. “Oh, yes, my darling. You are sweet indeed.”

Loki slid his hands under her firm ass and cupped it as he went for the kill, sliding his tongue directly into her hot center. Sophia’s head rolled back on the pillow as the cresting wave of ecstasy that followed swallowed her whole. She tossed her legs over his shoulders and buried her hands in his dark hair, moaning out, “God, yes, Loki. Fuck me, Silvertongue.”

And Loki delivered on his epithet.

In mere minutes, he had her squirming in pleasure, losing his tongue inside her again and again, drawing frantic curses and gasps from her until it eventually melded into jibberish. He paused every so often to bite kiss marks into her inner thighs that made her squeal and moan his name even harder. He squeezed her round ass as he worked, knowing it only made her more restless and sensitive, occasionally sliding his fingers higher to caress the small of her back.

“Tell me, Sophie,” he ordered. “Tell me what you want me to do to this sweet cunt.”

“Oh, God, Loki, make me come, I’m so goddamn close,” she panted out, her hips arching up towards him unconsciously.

He bit her inner right thigh hard and she whimpered, so pliant and willing that he wasn’t sure he could take another second of watching her. He’d gotten hard again in only seconds of pleasuring her and all he wanted to do was climb up the length of her body and slide his cock into her to push her over the edge.

“That’s right, my naughty girl,” he hummed as he settled above the spot he knew needed his attention the most. “You’re so close. So close you can…”

He let out a breathy little laugh. “… _taste_ it.”

Loki surrounded her clit with the heat of his mouth and swiped his tongue up from her folds to the sacred spot. Sophia tensed all over and cried out piteously. He closed his lips around her clit and sucked as she cascaded through her third orgasm, the sound of her coming partially muted as her thighs closed in around his head. He didn’t mind it one bit, digging his fingertips into her plush backside. He eased her down from her height with slow, patient laps of his tongue, enjoying the honey that spilled from her, evidence of his triumph, until her legs parted again to release him. He cleaned his mouth on the sheets and then slid up to meet her face-to-face at last.

“I want to fuck you,” he told her in between hard, messy, impatient kisses, running his hands up and down her curves in an endless cycle. “I need to fuck you. I need you to give me everything. Let me have you completely. Hold nothing back. I need to hear you say it, that you want it, that you want this from me.”

Sophia cupped his face in her hands. Her dark eyes were fathomless. He could look nowhere else, and when she spoke, it reverberated throughout his entire being. “I want you, Loki.”

He slid into her at long last.

And it was _everything._

Both of them moaned, the sound mingling between their mouths; a noise somewhere between anguished and starved and lustful. She fit him perfectly. Her silken skin and lush curves underneath him gave him a level of satisfaction he previously thought impossible. The smell, the taste, the feel of her was nothing short of sublime.

He belonged here.

He was sure of it.

Better still, she dragged her nails down over his pale skin to encourage him to move and he loved it. He sunk into a primal, hungry rhythm above her, sinking in to the hilt, unafraid of harming her, for he knew just how powerful she was by now. Their tongues tangled inside each other's mouths, partially muffling the joined exclamations of random things as he rocked into her slick cunt again and again, going faster and faster with every thrust.

“—so fucking big—”

“—so fucking tight—”

“—God, right there, fucking shit—”

“—so goddamn sweet—”

“—feels so good, God, I need you—”

“—want you to come, need you to come, fucking hell—”

By the time her long legs had twisted about his hips, it was practically a done deal. Loki’s instincts kicked into overdrive. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the bed, adjusting himself over her to give him the advantage of a new angle. The metal frame of the bed screamed in protest as he pounded into her at breakneck speed. He’d gone completely feral by now, his voice ragged as if it had come from the depths of Hell itself.

“Fucking come for me, Sophie,” he ordered, his lips against her ear as he rutted into her like a wild beast. “This cunt is all mine, isn’t it? This is Loki’s fucking cunt, isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes, _yes_ , it’s fucking yours!” She cried out finally and climaxed in the midst of his rough strokes, melting around him like warm honey. Loki groaned as her lithe legs squeezed him tight, begging him to go deeper still, and he obliged her, fucking his way into her innermost spot until she came yet again. He shuddered on top of her, marveling at the way she looked and sounded and felt around him, undone by his sex.

But only for a moment.

He’d hardly recovered before she shoved on his shoulders and rolled him onto his back, her lips curling into a bright, deadly smile. She slid her palms up his torso and molded herself to his larger frame, sinking herself back onto his cock just as her lips met his. Loki growled into her mouth as she took him roughly, her hips utterly hypnotic as they circled over him, her cunt pulling him in so deep he thought himself lost to her.

“You’re such a bad boy for fucking me like that, Loki,” Sophia whispered with a teasing smile. “Making me come all by myself. I want you to come this time. I want you to come for me. Come inside me, Loki.”

He groaned and gripped her ass with both hands as she skillfully flexed her inner walls over his cock. “Not yet, darling. Just little longer.”

“Mm, but I want you so bad right now, Loki,” she purred around his lips, her tone as rich and dark as the finest Swiss chocolate. “I don’t want to wait. I want you to give me everything. Right where you want it. Fuck, you’re so deep, Loki.”

He shuddered at her words and couldn’t help lifting his hips to slide his cock deeper on every stroke, his pulse racing, every nerve thrumming impatiently for his release. His control slipped. He slid his fingers into her dark mane and pinned her to him, thrusting harder, faster, panting into her mouth. “Fuck, darling, you are… _paradise.”_

“Come, Loki, come for me, just come, be mine, stay with me—” He kissed her ravenously as he finally surrendered to her. He clung to her as his release thundered through him like a tsunami, inescapable in its strength and sheer force. Neither of them could stop moving at first, wringing out every drop of pleasure, his cock spilling into her more than once, twice, until he lost count of how many times he’d come for her. Both of them were drenched in sweat by the time they collapsed to the sheets in an exhausted heap.

Eventually, he roused as Sophia nuzzled the spot below his jaw, kissing it. “This was the best worst mistake I ever made.”

Loki kissed her forehead, chuckling hoarsely. “How about another five or six more mistakes?”

Sophia’s eyes glittered dangerously. “As you wish.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophia and Loki have a bit of interesting pillow talk.

Sophia never would have guessed the God of Mischief would be good at cuddling.

To be fair, though, she wasn’t so much cuddling him as being sprawled across his long, pale body, naked and utterly worn out. She didn’t even try to guess how long they’d been at it. Hours? Days? Each session of sex had blended smoothly into the next and the next and the next. Now she was fucked out and fuzzy-headed and happy as a clam.

As difficult and dangerous as Loki could be, she had to admit the man had lived up to every single promise. His sex was practically decadent. She hadn’t been spoiled with so much attention in years, and even then, none of it had come close to being this good. Loki was a thorough partner. She knew it had a lot to do with his damaged mental state, but she could tell he’d needed it about as badly as she did. She knew it from how they lay now, languishing in the comfortable silence, his fingers tracing her brown skin leisurely, completely relaxed for perhaps the first time that she’d ever seen. He seemed in no rush to get rid of her. He seemed…content.

Sophia slid her arm under her chin to cushion it, observing his calm expression. “What will you do after your sentence is up?”

“Mm?” The demigod said, roused by the sound of her voice. His eyes opened to look at her. “What was that?”

“What will you do when you win your freedom?” she asked.

He smirked. “Why should I tell you? Then you can warn everybody.”

She chuckled. “Point taken. I just…you mentioned your plan before you got arrested was to either run or find a way to retake the throne. Is that still what you want to do with your life?”

“I must admit our current situation has me wanting to spend the remainder of my life living between these supple thighs of yours,” he purred, his smirk widening. “However, yes, I have some ideas about what I will do when I am a free man again.”

“I know you’re sensitive on the subject so I’ll try to tread lightly, but…” She nibbled her lower lip. “Will you let Thor and your family know that you’re alive?”

“Thor should have divined by now that I escaped with the Tesseract. He is no doubt hunting for me by way of the Tesseract, in fact, but with it confiscated and me in the custody of the TVA, he will be unsuccessful. By now, he’ll have told Frigga and Odin of my disappearance. I’m certain there is also a bounty on my head.”

“So you think Thor will take the throne when Odin is gone?”

Loki snorted. “He has an unflinching sense of duty. Yes, he will, but only out of obligation. Given a choice, I think Thor would abdicate. Odin still has a fair amount of years left in him and Thor will not ascend unless he has no choice. It is one of the reasons I dislike him most. He had it bequeathed to him on a silver platter and yet he does not want it.”

“I could see how that would make you bitter,” she agreed. “That you coveted it so much and tried to be worthy of it but yet he can have it and doesn’t want it at all.”

“It was never about being worthy,” Loki sneered. “Had I been worthy, I could wield Mjolnir. Never could. Never will.”

“Mm. But by whose standards, Loki?”

He blinked at her. “I beg your pardon?”

“You’re measuring your worth by someone else’s standards. What about your own? Do you think you’re worthy by your own standards?”

Loki stared at her, his brow furrowing. “I…”

He licked his lips. “I suppose I have never asked myself that question.”

“I figured as much. It sounds like so much of your inner turmoil comes from living by their standards instead of your own.”

He brushed a stray curl away from her forehead. “Is that not what all men do?”

“True, but in your case, you’re royalty. The standards were set before you were even born into it. They’re probably extremely outdated.” She huffed a bit. “And Odin, from what I’ve heard, is an absolute fucking prize of a man anyway.”

“Oh, you’ve no idea,” he groaned.

“I have some idea. You don’t become the Allfather by being nice.”

“He is an ogre. Thor is his prized possession and yet even he couldn’t live up to what Odin wanted. I still do not understand what my mother sees in him.”

“I’m sure there’s a lot of story behind it. Love isn’t simple. Or, hell, logical.”

“I suppose not.” He eyed her. “Have you ever been in love?”

She gave him a surprised look. “Well, this is some pillow talk.”

“You just asked me a series of rather intimate questions, darling,” he said with a small laugh. “I am allowed to do the same, am I not?”

“Sure, but you went for the jugular.” Sophia cleared her throat a bit. “No, never been in love. I was shy growing up and I didn’t get this pretty until after college. Late bloomer.”

“What a shame.” Loki gently rolled her over and settled above her, kissing over her pulse. “I think it would be fairly easy for a man to fall in love with you.”

“Oh, is that right?” she asked, lips pursed in disbelief.

“Putting aside your beauty, you are quite the compelling creature. No wonder Llark was sniffing around. He was quite clearly trying to see if he had another chance at you.”

“Wait, what?”

Loki lifted an eyebrow. “Was that not obvious?”

“He did nothing but insult me.”

“Yes, that is what unworthy men do. They search for weaknesses and insecurities to find their way in rather than being respectful and approaching a lady with clear intentions. I suspect Llark wanted to goad me into acting foolish in front of you, thereby making himself look better by comparison.”

“I would never have even considered that if you hadn’t said it just now,” Sophia admitted. “Is this how men work in general?”

“Some, yes. However, you are not a weak woman to fall for such tactics.” He paused. “Well, at least for his tactics.”

She sucked her teeth. “Don’t get smug or I am shutting this whole thing down.”

“I really don’t think you want to do that.”

“I could quit cold turkey right now.”

Loki grinned. “Is that right?”

“Absolutely,” she said with a stubborn scowl. “I have complete control over my body and…and…”

Her lashes fluttered. “And, um, my will power is…mm…iron clad.”

“Yes,” Loki purred as he continued lightly running his fingertips across her sex. “Clearly. You could leave me high and dry right now, in fact. Just get up and walk away. No temptation to stay whatsoever.”

“Mm-hmm.” She bit her bottom lip again to hide a gasp as his fingers slipped into her, his thumb lightly stroking her clit until her thighs parted further for him.

Loki nipped her throat as he slowly started to thrust them into her. “I admire your conviction, darling.”

He took her lips in a hot, sloppy kiss, pressing into her harder, faster, seeking to make her just as restless as he’d already become. She keened as he curled them deep inside her, dragging back and against her most precious spot, cajoling her into thrusting down against his hand for more friction. He sighed into her mouth as she ran her nails down his back, over his ass, wordlessly asking for more. He slid his slick fingers free and darted down between her thighs, replacing them with his tongue. He extracted moan after moan out of her, releasing her impatiently with a few expert strokes over her clit.

Loki rose to his knees and licked his lips, panting heavily. “Roll over.”

Sophia grinned wickedly and complied, taking the time to wiggle a bit just to hear him groan. “Who’d have guessed the God of Mischief is an ass man?”

Loki slapped one side of her ass and hungrily watched a rosy hue blush its way across her brown skin. “Darling, let’s be honest. There is not a single part of you where I don’t want to put my mouth.”

Sophia laughed. “Loki, your depravity knows no bounds.”

“Thank you. I try.” He pulled her onto her knees and smacked the other half of her ass. Sophia shivered all over and planted her hands, her own breathing kicking up. “Like that, do you?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “More.”

“Such a wanton little thing.” He spanked her again, harder this time, rewarded with a shaky moan. He spaced each slap out just enough to let the tingling bite of pain fade out, but then be renewed a second later, fascinated at the display of submission yet he knew she was completely in control of him. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was exquisite this way.

“Is this what you wanted when you first saw me?” Loki murmured. “Your prisoner spanking your beautiful ass cherry-red? Nothing but a servant of pleasure for you?”

“Damn you,” Sophia gasped out, clutching the sheets. “Yes, Loki. I’ve always wanted to fuck a god. Seeing all that pent-up rage made me want you so bad I couldn’t stand it at first.”

“Such a naughty Sophie, wanting me to release all my anger upon you. Perhaps I am not the only one who is depraved.” He slid one finger inside her and groaned. “And just look how wet I’ve made you.”

He sucked the digit clean and then clucked his tongue. “Who would ever have thought an agent of the law would behave so badly?”

Loki aligned himself with her and slid his fingers around her throat, bending her head back and taking in her lovely visage upside down. “You are caught.”

Sophia smiled. “I’m a willing captive.”

Loki laughed softly. “So you are.”

He angled his cock inside her. Bliss slid over her features, her lips falling open to moan for him. He didn’t relent, pushing deep, until he was seated as far as he could go inside her slick heat. She clawed at the sheets, but held her place. He rutted into her roughly, quickly, swatting her ass on every few thrusts, entranced by the appetizing flush that formed over her skin with every strike. She loved every second of it, eventually throwing her hips back against his thrusts so that he was moaning just as hard.

Loki shoved her knees further apart and pounded into her until the slap of skin on skin became louder than their joined cries of pleasure. “Stubborn girl. Submit.”

Sophia’s brown eyes gleamed. “You first.”

She swiveled her hips and flexed over his cock. He struggled to keep pace, his hips stuttering in rhythm, but he had just enough will power left to aim his other hand between her legs. He molded himself to her back as he strummed over her clit quickly, eating the moan right out of her mouth as she flew into her climax. Loki buried his face in her hair and growled out his own release, rocking against her until he’d released every last drop. He rested his forehead between her shoulder blades as they both recovered.

“So now what?” he wondered aloud.

“Well,” Sophia said, flicking her curls off of her sweaty forehead. “I could use a shower.”

“You’ve fucked the strength out of my legs,” the demigod grunted, which made her laugh merrily. “How about a bath instead?”

Sophia wriggled out from under him and gave him an affectionate peck on the lips as she headed towards the bathroom. “As you wish, your highness.”

It was a tight fit, but they wedged into Sophia’s bathtub and soaked in the hot water for a while, not really bothering to wash yet, just enjoying the company. Eventually, Loki brushed a kiss to her temple.

“What happens after we get up?”

“If you want another go of it, I’m down.”

Loki chuckled. “You are insatiable. I love it. However, that is not what I meant.”

“I know,” she said. “I’m trying to stall so I can think.”

Sophia sighed. “I…I guess I’m not sure how this will work? On Earth, we call it Friends with Benefits when two people enter a strictly sexual relationship with no intent of following through with a romantic relationship. They seldom end well.”

Loki eyed her. “Are we friends?”

Sophia wrinkled her nose. “Hard to say. I think we’re on our way there. I understand a little more about you now and you understand a little more about me now. We both work each other’s nerves, but it’s not as malicious as it was in the beginning.”

“I suppose you think you’ve tamed me,” he said dryly.

“Yeah, right. The second I let my guard down, you’ll still eat me alive. Though I might enjoy it first.”

He snorted and she continued. “No, I’m not under some impression that I’ve changed you. We’ve just managed to find some common ground. We can probably carry on for a while, but eventually, I guess we ought to knock it off. I guess what I’m saying is I don’t want to think that far ahead. I like this. This feels good. Neither of us has had anything good lately.”

“It is better than I deserve,” he said softly, pressing a kiss below her jaw. “I agree. We’ll let it play out for now. I’ve no objections.”

She shut her eyes again. “Good boy.”

Loki relaxed and did the same, letting go.

At least for the moment.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki gets the suckerpunch of a lifetime.

_“Now serving Number 24601.”_

“Finally,” Loki muttered as he rose from the waiting room bench and walked towards the TVA HQ’s technology repair counter. He handed his ticket to the attendant and she brought him the recharged core to his armor. He pressed a thumbprint into the sign off screen and turned, popping it back into the chamber in the center of the belt. The suit powered up with its normal settings and he left. Sophia was meeting with her superiors to discuss his progress, so he’d have a bit to wait before she’d be out and they could leave. By now, he’d reached his first milestone: 100 years off of his total 500. Each case varied and Sophia had been considerate enough not to take cases that would only get him 2-3 years off. She opted for the more dangerous missions that would get him to 500 faster, but it also provided her with better pay, so it was mutually beneficial.

Loki had just exited the restroom when he found a familiar face waiting in the hallway. “Your highness.”

Loki merely rolled his eyes and kept walking past Llark without bothering to acknowledge him. Llark chuckled and pushed off from the wall to follow him. “You Asgardians always carry a grudge, don’t you? Didn’t mean anything by it, you know. I was just yanking your leash.”

“Begone, vermin,” Loki snapped. “There is nothing you have to say worth listening to.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true.” Llark held up a small, thin device and clicked the top. Loki’s restraints suddenly powered down.

That stopped him.

He paused in the hallway, staring at them in disbelief. He tried to activate one, but it appeared to truly be decommissioned. Loki cast a suspicious glance at the alien beside him. Llark grinned and flipped the device between his fingers.

“Thing about leaping through time on a regular basis is you nick the most useful things from the future,” he drawled, tucking the device into his belt. “And the criminals of the future are awful smart.”

Loki scowled. “What do you want?”

“Just a word on the roof, your highness. Away from prying eyes.”

“Just because you have an impressive trick doesn’t mean I am foolish enough to walk into a trap.”

“No tricks,” Llark said, waving a hand. “Really. If you don’t trust me, draw your weapon. You know the restraints are off, so you can kill me if I do something to you. But I promise, I’m on the up and up.”

Loki eyed him and flicked a dagger out of thin air. He aimed for a weakpoint in Llark’s armor, between the plates, and stopped with the tip digging into the fabric. The restraints did not electrocute him. They were truly off. Loki’s eyes narrowed as he withdrew the dagger, but kept it in his grip. “Move.”

The big alien strode down the hallway at Loki’s side and led him upstairs to the roof. TVA HQ was a giant space station, so it always appeared to be nighttime, for they rarely passed by any suns since that would mean habitable worlds could spot them. Secrecy was most important of all to the organization.

“So here’s the deal,” Llark said as he fired up one of his odd cigars. “There’s a big score on the way. Huge. And I want it. You’re gonna help me get it.”

“How and why would I bother?” Loki asked, crossing his arms.

“One, for this,” Llark said, brandishing the device. “Two, because I can wipe out the rest of your arrest record. Three…”

He gave him a sharp little smirk. “Because you’re sweet on my Sophie.”

“She is not your anything. She is not my anything. She belongs to herself.”

Llark rolled his eyes. “Play it however you want, Asgardian. The deal is simple.”

He hit a couple things on his forearm display. An ugly, craggy grey alien appeared in the hologram. “This is Grave Scullery. He’s a big fish. Wanted for all kinds of galactic crimes, but the most important is our intelligence suggests that he’s the one who ordered the hit on Ryler.”

Loki stilled. Llark kept going. “Yeah, exactly. The case hasn’t gone public yet. We just received intel of where he might be.”

Llark blew out a puff of purple smoke. “And I want it. The old man was my teacher. He didn’t deserve to die like a dog. I’m gonna make sure Grave gets what’s coming to him. It’ll be slow and nasty. It’ll be everything he deserves and more.”

“And exactly where is it that I come into play?”

“I know how my superiors work. They’re gonna offer it to Sophie first out of courtesy, since she was the one who let him die—”

Loki stepped forward. “She did _not_ let him die. Slander her like that again and I’ll slit you from groin to neck, you oversized salamander.”

Llark chuckled. “Boy, you’ve got it bad, haven’t you? Fine. Point is, I want you to talk her out of it.”

Loki frowned. “That is impossible. Sophia will have her revenge. There is nothing in this universe that could stop her.”

“You’re the Silvertongue of Asgard,” Llark said. “I’ve seen you work. You can talk her out of it. Then it’ll fall to me to collect. That means I get my revenge and I get a promotion for bringing in the killer of our best agent in history. Then you get your freedom. You can go back to doing whatever the hell it is that you want.”

Loki shook his head, chuckling. “You must think I am truly as stupid as you are to believe any of this tripe. You could very well be recording this interaction to add another hundreds years onto my sentence. You could be setting a trap for when I deliver the results.”

Loki snapped a finger. “Oh, and there is the fact that you are a slimy coward, so you will also reveal what I have done to Sophia the instant you get what you want. She’ll either kill me or refuse to work with me, which then means I am confined to the Kiln for the remainder of my life. Sophia will bring Grave to justice. I’m certain a seedy fellow like you can organize some sort of prison riot to get him killed there anyway. Good luck.”

Loki headed for the stairs. Llark groaned. “This is what I get for trying to play nice.”

He tapped a few things on his forearm and Loki froze as he heard what he knew were sounds of passion between himself and Sophia. He whirled to see a recording of them in bed together, furiously fucking each other, their faces quite clearly in focus.

“How—”

“You were right,” Llark shrugged, smirking as he watched. “I am a coward. Sophie’s a soft girl deep down, as I'm sure you've noticed. I had these planted on our special night together.”

Loki rushed him. “I’ll kill you!”

He was scarcely an inch from Llark when the big alien reactivated his restraints. Bright blue bolts of electricity shocked him from head to toe. The pain was unspeakable. Loki hit the ground and screamed in agony, then collapsed into frantic gasping as it faded a few seconds later.

“Ouch,” Llark said in fake sympathy. “Damn, that looked painful.”

He squatted beside the stunned Asgardian. “Look, I’ll throw you a bone since I’m basically screwing you both over. Hold up your end of the bargain and I’ll still set you free. Try to back out and I’ll send this recording straight to HQ’s database. Sophia will be disgraced and dismissed from duty and you’ll be stuck in the Kiln for the rest of your miserable life. Play it smart, inmate. You’re not one of us and you never will be. You’re a criminal, same as the other scum we bring in, but you’re useful, so you’re getting a second chance.”

Llark extinguished the cigar on Loki’s chest plate. “And trust me, it’s more than you deserve.”

He stood, idly dropped the device controlling Loki's restraints, and disappeared down into the stairwell. Loki shut his eyes to the lingering pain and cursed softly under his breath.

* * *

It had been a couple months since Loki and Sophia had started up their sexual relationship, so he’d been given access to her apartment. While she was out at the market, he swept her place thoroughly, found every single hidden camera, and destroyed them. It wasn’t difficult to pretend that he was fine around her. Llark had sent further instructions stating that HQ would brief her the next morning on Grave’s status, so he’d have the night to prepare something to talk her out of it.

Truthfully, he was torn. A selfish, callous part of him wanted to go through with it. After all, it was the lesser of two evils. He would be freed—assuming Llark held up his end of the bargain, though Loki highly doubted it—and Sophia would be none the wiser. He could even frame it so that she would see it as closure, allowing herself to let go of the hatred and guilt that plagued her. He’d be doing her a favor.

And he’d be living up to his reputation once again—the God of Lies.

He could go back to Asgard and retake the throne. He could try to reclaim the Tesseract and escape to another realm. His decisions would be his own again. His life would be his own again.

And all he had to do was lie to a girl he cared about.

He considered the other side. If he refused, then Sophia would suffer a humiliating dismissal. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would show her no mercy. She would be demeaned and insulted and likely returned to Midgard with her memories of the last several years wiped out, left to live an ordinary, mundane life as she had before. It wouldn’t be the worst thing ever, truthfully. She would be safe and she wouldn’t know the pain of her dismissal with her memory wiped.

But then again, he would.

The Kiln was nothing to sneer at. A jail break would be incredibly hard to facilitate on his own, and trouble came from relying on others. He could of course call for Thor and turn himself in to spend the remainder of his days as a prisoner on Asgard. It would be better than rotting in the Kiln, surrounded by his enemies, to say nothing of the prison’s reputation for not caring what the inmates did to each other. He also knew the palace like the back of his hand. He could be patient and mount an escape eventually, but that too would take time.

And technically, he had a third option. He could tell Sophia the truth. He could tell her that Llark blackmailed him and they could try to find a way to recover the footage or prove that he’d entrapped them for his own selfish gain. It was the riskiest choice of them all.

These thoughts roamed his mind as he lay beside the sleeping Sophia. He hadn’t realized how much he’d zoned out until he heard her stirring beside him. His eyes opened to see her shifting under the sheets, making little distressed sounds. Loki frowned. She was having a nightmare.

“Sophie,” Loki murmured as he sat up and reached for her. “Wake up, darling.”

His fingers closed around her upper arm. Sophia cried out and jerked away, her limbs flailing in wild panic. “Don’t touch him! I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you all, you bastards!”

“Sophie!” He tried to hold her down, but she rolled out of bed onto her feet, slamming back against the dresser. Loki leapt to his feet and shook her shoulders. “Damn it, Sophie, _wake up_.”

Her brown eyes, clogged with tears, finally popped open. She stared around at the bedroom in shock, covered in cold sweat, shaking from head to toe in his grip. “L-Loki? What happened?”

“You had a nightmare,” he said gently. “That’s all. Just a nightmare.”

Sophia ducked her head down as she noticed her tears slipping down her cheeks and squirmed out of his touch, shuffling over to the wet bar in the corner. Loki forced himself not to follow her, just watching silently as she poured herself a stiff drink. She downed it in one go and set the glass down. Her shoulders hunched. Her head bowed. Her hands came up and covered her face. She trembled as she stood there, crying as if her heart had tumbled from her chest one broken piece at a time.

Loki swallowed past the lump in his throat. He was no good at this, at comfort, at grief. He knew nothing but volatile emotions. He tried to think of what Thor would do in this situation. He conjured an image of a village that the Asgardians had rescued, of a woman in Thor’s arms, sobbing in relief that he’d saved her. Thor had never met the woman before, and yet he’d slid his arms around her and held her close, resting his chin on her hair, rocking her back and forth gently, slowly, murmuring soft words until she had calmed.

Loki walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He molded himself into her much smaller form, his bare chest along her spine, his fingers resting just below her ribs, arms crossed over her stomach. He pressed his lips to her temple, his cheek to her hair, his naturally cool skin working its magic on her overheated flesh. He shut his eyes and hummed an old tune his mother would sing to him as a child, swaying just barely as he held her. She didn’t resist. But, gradually, her crying lessened.

Eventually, she turned to face him and buried her face in his chest, seeking shelter in his arms. He rubbed her back until she finished calming down. Then he scooped her up and tucked her back into bed with him, keeping her close the whole time until she drifted back to sleep.

And by then, he’d made his decision.


End file.
